Mage Zero

By D. Fiskvik

Imagine that you went for a walk and found something old, or you were trying to get out of the rain in the woods and walked into a place that was not there the last time you were. You found something that should not be, like a book that could read to you or a tree that could talk. This is something like that happening. Brian was in a flood and ran into a graveyard to get out of the water. He started to climb a tree when he fell. He came to somewhere he did not know, and things started to happen to him in there. Things would just be there and would come out of nowhere. He found something in there, and it told him some things. He had to solve the mystery before the sun went down, or he would get thrown out of where he was. That is where this story starts, as well as all he has to do with the new things he finds. His guide helps him on his way and gives him something he wants for a long time--meaning to his life and people to care for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781684982226

Book preview

Contents

Part 1: The Drive

Part 2: The Tree

Part 3: All the Book Has to Say

Part 4: The Wolves

Part 5: The Two-Leggeds

Part 6: Over Time

Part 7: The Tree 2

Part 8: The Learning

Part 9: A New Ride

Part 10: Goodland, Kansas

Part 11: Fireflower

Part 12: Home Sweet Home

Part 13: The Beach

Part 14: The Cave

Part 15: Something For You

Part 16: Something for Her; Three Days Ago

Part 17: The Day

Part 18: The Red Tree

Part 19: Sound of Magic

Part 20: San Franco

Part 21: Los Angeles

Part 22: Phoenix

Part 23: The Library

Part 24: Home at Hopi

Part 25: Time for School

Part 26: Return to Goodland, Kansas

Part 27: The Keeper and the Seal

Part 28: Return to the Door Room

Part 29: Goodbyes

Part 1

The Drive

My name is Brian Dennoo, and I live in White City, Oregon. I work as a truck driver in all forty-eight states. I move all kinds of things all over the US, Canada, and Mexico. I just picked up a load out of LA going to New Orleans and was on my way when the dispatcher Mark called me.

He said, I needed you to get to the docks in New Orleans before a storm in three days.

I said, It is a three-day drive there, and I am not going to run two logbooks to get there before the storm.

He said, Okay, you just need to get there before it hits, or you could get to ride out the storm before they can unload you.

I said okay and put the phone down. I looked at my computer for the weather. It looked good all the way there, all sunshine. I did not see anything of the storm until I was about eighty miles from New Orleans. Then I could see the first signs of the storm. The clouds over the city were dark, and it was just starting to rain. I turned on the computer to look at the weather as I was getting gas. There was a hurricane on its way, and it was going to be a big one, a level 3. By the time I got to the docks, the wind and rain got bad. The truck was being pushed all over the places by the rain and wind.

The guard at the gate said, The dock is closed due to the storm and will not be reopened until the storm passes. That would be Monday if there is not too much damage.

I looked at my paperwork and said to myself that I was going to be here for three or four days and I needed to call in.

The guard said, There is a good place to park your truck nearby until the storm is over.

He gave me a hand-drawn map. I thanked him, and I called Mark.

He said, I told you, you need to beat the storm. I have called the boss, and he said if you don’t make it, to send you three hundred bucks and tell you to get a room until you can unload. I’ll send the money the same way and will text you the numbers.

He sent the money to a store nearby and texted the number so I could pick it up.

In the text, he said, Call me when you get unloaded, and I will have your next load for me.

I looked up the closest store to me and went there. The money was not there yet, so I went to get something to eat and came back in about thirty minutes. I got the money; and while I was in the store, I got some food, water, and some movies put in the truck for the next three days. My plan was to sleep in the truck and not get a room so I could save the money.

While I was looking for the place the guard was talking about to park, I was listening to the radio to find out about the storm. I found the place the guard was talking about. He said to park next to a graveyard and that I would be good until the storm passed. The radio said that the front of the storm was about three houses away and that it was going to be a level 3 or 4 storm by the time it hit land. I got out of the truck and started to look around. I could see that the wind and rain were starting to pick up. I looked around the cul-de-sac I was in, and there were three houses on this street. But none of them looked like there was anyone in them. They were boarded up, and it looked like they had not seen anyone in some time.

There was a graveyard on the other side of the street, and it looked old. It looked like no one had been there for years, and there were big old trees running all around the outside of the fence. I looked at the house, but there was nothing about them that got me to look any closer. The graveyard was another story altogether. I was about to go in when it started to rain harder, and I did not want to get too wet. It was about time for me to turn in for the night. So I went back to the truck. The truck was moving with the wind, and I could hear the rain coming down harder than I had ever heard it before. I opened up one of the movies and started it on my computer. I left the truck running so I could keep the heater on and power the computer and my phone. When the movie was over, I turned off the truck and went to sleep, listening to the rain hitting the truck.

In the morning, I heard a crash near the truck. I looked at my phone to see the time. It was six twenty-four. I could see some light and felt the truck was still moving in the wind. The rain was coming down in buckets. I moved to the driver’s seat to see if I could see where the sound was coming from. I looked in the mirror and could see a tree had fallen near the back of the truck. I put on my rain gear to go see if it hit the truck and to see if I had to fix anything. It did not hit the truck, but it did block the road. It was gonna need to be moved before I could leave. I looked at the other trees to see if another one was going to fall and saw that one or two of them might. I got back into the truck and moved it farther away from the trees and closer to the houses. I pulled out the computer to take a look at the weather; and it said the main front of the storm was now a level 4 storm, was not moving to the north, and was staying over the city for a much longer time.

I was thinking to myself, It looks like I am going to be here for the next day or two.

I put on the rain suit, and I went around the truck to see if there was anything that might hit or fall around the truck. Then I got back in the truck, ate something, and made some calls.

Nothing happened all that day and into the night. On the next day, there was another tree on the road, but it was close to the opening of the cul-de-sac. The weather looked to be getting better when the truck started to lean to the right. I got my clothes on and got out of the truck to see that the road was giving way under the right side of the truck. It was going to need to be pulled out; but the way things looked, if I tried to drive it out, it would just do more damage. I would have to get it fixed.

I looked down the street at the two other trees, and then I saw something coming down the street. It was moving fast. It was water and a lot of it. I looked over at the houses and could see that they were in no better shape than the road was. One house had a tree fall on it, and the other two looked to be sinking into the ground. As I was looking at one of the houses, it started to come apart and lean forward. I looked at the road and ran for the graveyard. The water hit me just as I made it to the other side of the road and fell hard on the grass, knocking the air out of me. I took a minute to get up and started moving into the graveyard. I looked back just in time to see my truck get deeper in the hole and the other houses fall apart into the water.

Part 2

The Tree

I got up and started to run into the graveyard. I was looking for a place to get out of the water and stay ahead of the flood. As I was making my way deeper into the graveyard, I was looking for some place to go that was out of the water and would stay out of it. I looked back and could see the water getting close when I saw a massive large tree sitting on top of a small hill to my left. I started to run to the tree as the water was getting my shoes wet. I made it to the tree just in time. I started to climb it, and about halfway up, my hand slipped. I fell and hit my head on something, blacking out.

I came to, and all I could see was black when a small light came on at the top of the room. As I looked around, I could see that I was in a small room that looked like it was made of wood. I looked behind me to where I could have gotten in here. There was a small door, and it was closed. There was a small window in the door I could look out. I could see that the water was at the door, but there was no water coming in through the door. I looked around the room and could see at one time that someone could have lived in here. There was a small bed on one side and a small sink next to another door on the far side of the room. There was an old icebox on the floor next to the sink, and it looked like some old food cans on top of it.

I went over to the other door and opened it. It was a bathroom that looked like someone just cleaned it. There was just a shower and a toilet in there. I tried the toilet to see if it was working; and to my surprise, it worked, the same with the shower and the sink with hot and cold water. I opened the old icebox and found that there was some cold beer and cold pizza. I looked at the pizza, and it looked like it was just put in there. But the beer cans were nice and cool to the touch.

I said to myself, I wish it was a little hot in here and that the last person had left some dry clothes.

I went over to the front door and looked out to see the water was moving up the door and the storm was getting bad with the things I could see. I looked at the door, and there was no water coming in. I knew that, if the door was open, water would fill the room fast. I turned back to the room and started to look around when I saw that the bed had a change of clothes on it and I could feel the room getting hotter. I went over to the bed, looked under it, and then looked at the clothes. They looked like they would fit me, and the clothes I had on were all wet from the rain. Therefore, I tried them on, and they were just my size.

I put my waterlogged clothes in the shower and went back to the box. I opened it up and found that the beer was not there but now my favorite pop was and that the pizza had my favorite toppings on it. I took out one of the pops and the pizza, looking at it. I went back to the bed and found that it was like new with clean sheets, and there were three big pillows. I tried the pizza and found that it was as good as it looked, as if it had just been put in there, and the pop was good and cold.

About every ten minutes, I would go over to the door to see if it was leaking and to see how the water was doing. I knew that something was not right. The room was changing, like the new clothes and the food in the icebox and the temperature in the room. The bed was the best thing I had ever sat on, and the clothes fit me. I lay down on the bed to think. I was thinking it was going to be long nights with the water outside and things going on in here. As I was lying there, the light started to dim, and the sound of the rain got softer as I fell asleep.

In the morning, I got up and could smell something. There was a plate of eggs and bacon and a hot cup of coffee on top of the box. All the cans were not there anymore, just the plate of food and cup of coffee. I got up and looked at the food. It was hot just like it was just cooked, and the coffee had some creamer in it. I picked up the plate and the cup of coffee. I went back to bed and took a bite of bacon. It was good, and the eggs were great. I drank the coffee without even thinking about it and found that was just the way I liked it. I looked at the plate and saw it was a tin camping plate, and the cup was the same.

I put the plate and cup into the sink and went into the bathroom. I found that the clothes I left in there were clean, folded, and on top of the toilet. On them were a new razor and a bar of soap.

I looked back into the other room and said, joking, Do you think I stank?

I heard something said yes. I jumped and looked out into the room, but there was no one there. I looked under the bed, but no one was in the room. Then I looked outside to see if there was someone out in the tree and found that the water was higher on the door but not a person in the tree.

I went back to the bed and said, Who are you, and where are you? I know that there is someone here. You are the one doing all this for me, and I would like to thank you. Where are you?

I looked to see if anything would happen, but nothing did.

I said, You think I stank, so I’m going to go take a shower.

I took off the clothes and looked for a tag on them. There were no tags at all, but they looked like they were handmade. I went to take a shower and found a new change of clothes on the bed when I came back out. The ones that I just had taken off were not there anymore. I saw that a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash were on the sink where the plate was. I went over to the clothes, and it looked like they were just made for me. I got dressed, and like before, they felt like they were made for me. I went over to the sink and brushed my teeth, trying to think how all this was happening.

I started talking to myself, There must be a ghost, but I have never heard of a ghost making clothes and food for someone. I have heard of a ghost hurting and biting people. There are angels that would help people like this, but I do not pray or do anything like that. There must be a good ghost as well because all ghosts are people that have left their bodies and have not moved on, I think. I got to my feet and said, Are you a ghost that is helping me? Are you going to talk to me and tell me what is going on in here?

Nothing happened. I looked at the door to see if I could find a way out and not get killed by the water. I was looking for the seam. I found that the door had no seam to leak.

I said to myself, I know that I came in through here, but now I’m not sure, or did I just think that?

I put my hand on my head and found the bump where I hit my head when I fell. Then I smiled.

I said out loud, That’s it! I must be dreaming. I must have hit my head, and I am in the tree outside. So everything here is in a dream.

I heard something coming from over by the bed. You are not dreaming.

I said, If I’m not dreaming, can you prove it?

Nothing happened.

I start to get mad and said, Can you show me where you are?

I heard, Yes.

I started to come down and was starting to think about the things I was saying.

I said to myself, If I ask it something that is more than a yes-or-no answer, nothing happens, but if I ask it a question with only a yes or no, it answers.

I thought for about some minutes and then said, Are you in this room?

I heard, Yes.

I said, Are you here to hurt me?

I heard, No.

The sound was coming from somewhere over by the bed. I looked over where I thought the sound was coming from, but nothing was there. I looked under the bed, on the bed, and in the pillows; but nothing was there.

I went back to the door and, with my back to the room, said, Show me where you are?

I heard, Behind you.

I turned around and found an old book covered in a layer of dirt lying on top of a box on a table next to the bed that was not there a minute ago.

I looked at the book and the box on the table and said, Where are you?

Nothing.

I picked up the book, pushing some of the dirt on the floor and opened the box. There were two rocks, five or six crystals, and some things, to me, that looked like junk—a key, two spoons, and a kid’s rag doll. I put the book on the bed and looked at the table, then on the floor, and behind the table; but nothing was there.

I said, Are you the doll?

Nothing. I looked at the book and went to open it. It would not open, and I looked at it. There was no lock on it, and it had no keyhole to open it. I got the key out of the box and tried to find a keyhole.

I said, Are you the book, and if so, why can’t I open it?

I heard, Yes, I’m the book, and if you want to open me, you have to give me one of each of the seven elements. Until you do, I will not help you anymore, and this is the last time I can talk to you. You will have to leave here at sunset and never come back. That is, if you cannot open me up.

I looked at the book, pushing some more of the dirt on the floor, and saw that there was a picture on the cover with a small light coming from something. I cleaned off most of the dirt and saw a picture of a human with his hands and feet outstretched. At each point of his hands, feet, and one in the head was a small bowl. The light was coming from one of them and was going out fast. I looked for more places but did not see them.

I started to think to myself, There are places for the five elements, but there are not seven of them. The five elements that I know of are fire, water, wind, self, earth, but there are only five, not seven.

I looked closely at the five small places on the book after pushing the last dirt out of the bowls and found a symbol on the bottom of each of the bowls. The symbol at the head, I did not know but know that it was for self. That was where it was on all the things I had seen on this. The other four were easier to read. The left-hand symbol was fire. Right-hand symbol was wind. Right-foot symbol was water; left-foot symbol was earth. Then it hit me. That was where the small light was coming from.

I picked up some dirt from the floor where it had come off the book and put it in the earth bowl. It started to glow in green light. I blew some air in the right hand and got a fistful of dust, and it started to glow in a brown light. I looked around to see if there was something to make some fire and was thinking of something for self. For self, I pulled out a hair and put it in the head bowl, and it started to glow in a yellow light. As I was looking for fire, the earth and wind bowl’s light started to go out. I was thinking about it for some time when the light in the head went out, and the hair was gone. I looked in the other bowls, and they were empty as well.

I went to the sink and got the coffee cup, put some water in it, and said, Here is the water you need. Putting it on the table, I smiled to myself and said, Now all we need is fire. I was looking around the room and said, I wish I had a lighter.

But the book said he was not going to help anymore, so nothing happened.

Then I started to think back as a kid when my dad made me start a fire on our first camping trip. He gave me two rocks and told me to start the fire.

After he showed me how to stack the wood in the right way in the firepit and how to hold the rocks, he said, All you need to do is hit the two rocks together, then blow on it until you see a flame. He pointed his finger.

The first time I got a spark, I jumped back, and all that my dad said was to move in closer. I tried until I got the spark to go into the right place. I blew too hard on it, and it went out.

Dad said, Move in closer, and do not blow it out. Blow softly.

I tried again for some time and got the spark in there again. This time, I blew slowly on the spark, and it turned into a small fire. My dad nodded and let me get the wood to keep it going.

I went back to the box on the table and looked at the two rocks in the box. Yes, one was flint, and the other was a piece of iron pyrite. I smiled at myself and looked for something to start the fire on. I looked at the doll, then went into the bathroom and came back into the room with my clothes under my arm. I put my clothes back on and laid the other ones in a pile.

I said to myself, "I need to move when I get started. I don’t think I have a lot of time to put all the elements in before the light starts to go out. I have all five of the ones I know. Now I need to find the other two that I do not know.

I pulled the book to me and looked at it and then the toothbrush on the sink.

I said, I think it is time you get a bath and see if there is something you’re hiding under that dirt.

I went to the sink, got the toothbrush, and went back to bed. I put the toothbrush in the cup of water, picked up the book, and started to clean it. As I worked on the book, I started to see lines that were filled in with dirt.

I heard the book say, That feels so good.

As I was working on the book, I got some water on the right foot. It started to glow with a blue light. I counted to see how long before it went out and got to thirty before the light went out. I worked on the book for over an hour and found that the book was in a red stain of leather. There were lines on the book to each one of the bowls and that there were lines leading to the center of the human. As I cleaned it off, I found that there was a bowl in the chest that looked like a yin-yang symbol. I cleaned the bowl out and looked into both sides of the bowl. The left side had a skull, and the other side looked like a seed that was just opening. I was thinking of them, and then it hit me. The two symbols were life and death. I was thinking of where to get life and death.

I looked in the box and by the sink and found a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat in the box but nothing to help me find the things I needed. I looked at the door and then went to look to see if the water was going down. I found that the water was not even at the door. I could see that the sun was about to go down, and I was running out of time.

I started to think, I can just leave the book and everything behind.

I went over and ate the sandwich on the bed, trying to think of something to help me with this. I knew that there was no way I was not going to try to open the book, and I needed the last two of them. I needed to know how all the things in here were doing the things they were. As I was thinking and eating the sandwich at the same time, I was not paying attention and bit the inside of my cheek. I went over to the sink, cupped my hands, and got a drink of water to wash the blood out.

I looked in the small box to see if there was a clue. There was nothing to help me, but I looked at the book. The color of the book was a blood red. Then it hit me that blood had both life and death in it. I was thinking back in school about how blood worked and took air to every part of your body, then back. Blood makes new cells all the time, and if you put a drop of blood in something, it will die. If you put another drop in the life bowl before death, light would go out. I was going to have to time this just right to get it to work.

I looked at the window and saw that my time was just about up. I started by getting the fire going because it was going to take the most time. I got out the rocks and made the clothes into a pile in the sink for the fire. It took a lot longer than I thought to get the fire going in the sink. I got a pop out of the box and dumped it into the shower and made a bowl to move the fire in.

Now that I had the fire and a way to move it, I put all the elements out in the order I was going to put them in. First was death. I bit my finger and pushed a drop of blood in the death and waited for the light. Nothing was happening, and there was no light until it got darker. I now knew that black was the light for death, so I moved to fire. I bent the pop can so I could put a small hot coal in the fire bowl, then some dirt on earth, water from the coffee cup, and a hair in self. I blew in the air and lastly put another drop of blood in life. As the drop of blood hit the bowl, I looked to see that all of the lights were lit up, and the book opened.

Part 3

All the Book Has to Say

The book opened by itself to the first page and said, Well, that took you long enough. I was thinking I was going to have to throw you out the door. You did not have any time left, and I was so hoping to get out of here and see the world again.

I looked down at the book to see a drawing of a face looking up at me.

The book said, I’m here to teach you and to tell you all you need to know about elements of magic. To start, we need to know which of the elements you have to start with.

I looked in shock at the book and said, You are going to teach me magic? Like spells and how to make someone fall in love with me and things like that?

The book looked puzzled, rolled his eyes, and said, I can’t make someone fall in love. You have to do that, but you can make them do just about anything you want in time. Now can I get you to open up to the next page and get everything on that list so we can start?

I looked at the book and said, I did not sign up for this, and there is no magic left in the world.

The book looked at me and said, You are right. The last of the mage elders made everyone forget about two of the powers of magic and, in doing so, locked it away or killed it outright. To them, it was time for magic to leave the world, and in time, they would forget that it was not even been there. At the time, there were mages all over the world, and not all of them would work with the elders. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning with the how the first stone was found. There are no names in this story I am going to be telling you, and if you ask me their names, I do not know them.

About eight thousand years ago, a girl found a rock that touched her in a way nothing ever had. She was not yet a woman, just in her eighth year of life. Her woman rites were to happen in two years’ time, and then a man would take her for his wife in their ways. She picked up the rock after the rock had touched her soul. She put it in her self-pouch as she was told to do. A self-pouch is a leather bag that you wear around your neck and put things that are just for you. They were told to do this if anything like this happened by their mother and the wise man, whom all go see for things like this. She was going to tell her mom about the rock. But later that day, a boy was born to the wise man’s home, and she forgot about telling her mom about it.

Everyone in her village had a self-pouch and were all told the same thing. The wise man of the village would give you your first pouch at your rite of birth, after you had lived for three turns for the moon. He put some things in the pouch from your mom, dad, some of your hair, and a small stone from your home fire. That was to let everyone know who you were, and the other side of life was where you would go.

At the age of five years, you go throw your child’s naming rite, and a red rock was added to the pouch. That was to let everyone know that you were not a baby anymore and you were old enough to start training in the skill you would need in life. No one knew of magic but did know of ghosts and the next life.

I looked at him and said, I like the old way of things.

Over the next ten days, things started to happen. She would go out with her mom and the other women to get food and other goods that they needed to get through the winter. She would move away from her mom and find some of the best mushrooms, then the women would start to go down a path to the next field. She would go the other way and find a field of just-ripe berries. Some of the women knew that there was not anything here the other day and were happy to find the berries.

After the women had filled their baskets and started back to the village on a new path the girl had found, they came to a place that was not far from the village but had a big basin of water where all the women could get clean and the kids could play in the water for a time. They all stopped to have some fun and to clean themselves before getting back to the village. This started to happen every time the girl would go out with the women. One of the women would say that they needed to find a plant or some bark of a tree. The next thing they would come to was the thing she was looking for. As time went on, all the women wanted the girl to go with them.

That was until a boar track was found near the village. The hunters went out to track it down for the summer feast in three days. The hunters left two men to go with the women to get the last of the food for winter. The girl, her mom, and six other women went to the field where they found the berries in hope of finding some for the feast. The hunters went with another group of women.

When they got to the field, it was as if no one had picked the berries there the day before. The women looked at the girl with smiles and started to work on picking all the berries they could. They were working for a long time when one of them heard a sound coming from the other side of the field.

She looked over to where the sound was coming from, and she yelled, The boar! and pointed to where it was. She started to run.

Soon all the women were running back to the village to get the hunters.

As soon as they stopped running, the mom looked to see if her child was with the women, but she was not there. She yelled for the girl and started back to the field. The other women stopped her as the hunters had heard the yells and were running to them. The women were trying to stop the mom from going back while the others were telling the hunters where the boar was. One of the men picked up the mom, put her over his shoulder, and took her back to the village with five of the other women. One of the women would take the hunters back to the field where the boar was.

They ran as fast as they could to get back to the field and help the girl. When they got to the field, they were hoping to find the girl up in a tree, all safe and sound, and the boar nearby so they could kill it. They found the girl was right next to the boar, talking to it as of it was a friend. They did not move in fear of the boar killing the girl and waited for some time until the girl gave the boar a hug and sad goodbye. She started to head back to the village when she saw the hunters and stopped to look at them.

The lead hunter pointed at the women and said, Go over there and stay there until we get back.

She said, No, you are not going to hurt my friend. All he was looking for was food, the same as us.

She held out her hands to block the hunters from going after the boar. He picked her up with one hand, looked at her hard in the eyes, and tossed her to the women. They moved off to hunt the boar. It did not take long for them to kill the boar, but one of the men was hurt, and they had to tack him back. Four men helped the hurt man. Four were taking the boar. The leader was in front. The girl in the back was crying with the women.

The leader looked back to where the girl was and said, Keep her quiet. I need to hear if there is anything out there.

The women picked up the girl to try to make her stop, but she did not stop all the way back. No one said anything as they came into the village, and the people could see that something was wrong. As the hunters came into the village, the mom ran up.

She was stopped by the lead hunter who said, To the wise man.

She looked in shock at her child, the man they were helping, and then the women with her child. She said nothing but got in the back of the line and took her child from the other women. They dropped the boar off so the women could get started on it. The others put the hurt man in his home, where someone had called for the healer and was there waiting for the man.

After the hunters were back with the leader, they could see that the wise man was looking at the hunters. They moved up to the wise man, and the lead hunter went in. No one moved in the small group, and the people were all starting to look at the group. They all could hear the leader yelling about how the girl was with the boar, how she tried to stop them, how she got his man hurt, and how it was his best spearman. He went on for about ten minutes.

When he came out, he pointed to one of the hunters. He went in and so on until all the hunters had seen the wise man. Then the women went in. The mom and the child were the last to go in. The mom and child went to go in.

Then the leader of the hunters stopped the mom and said, Just the child.

The wise man yelled out, Let the mother come in as well. Can’t you see the child is in tears and needs her mother?

He looked like he could kill and moved aside, and they went in. The wise man was sitting on a stump next to the fire that was in the middle of the room. His wife was behind him with his new baby and was looking at them.

He looked at the girl and said, Did you try to stop the hunters from killing the boar?

She looked up at him and nodded.

He said, Where you talking to the boar as well?

And again she nodded.

The wise man looked at the girl with a smile and said, So how do you talk to a boar?

She looked at the wise man and said, They can talk just like you and me, if you can get them to stop eating.

The wise man smiled and said, Are there other things that you can talk to other than the boar?

She looked at him with a small smile and said, The birds help me find things for the women. The earth helps with the berries and other things.

The wise man looked surprised, and he said, Can you tell me how you can talk to the bids, the earth, and other things?

She looked up at him and said, Can’t you?

The wise man looked at her and said, Can you tell me when this started? I mean, you started to talk to the birds.

She looked at him and said, I don’t know. It just started after I found a rock that made me fell all tingles inside. I did as I was told and put in my pouch.

He said, Is this rock in there now?

She nodded with a smile.

And he said, That was good of you, putting it in there. Can I see it?

She looked at her mom, who gave a nod, and she pulled it out. The wise man moved over to look at the rock but did not try to touch it.

He looked at the girl and said, Can I take a closer look at it?

The girl shook no, put the rock back into her pouch, and closed it. And she said, No one can touch my soul, not even you. She looked at her mom.

He gave her a big smile and said, You are right about that. No one can, so if you do not want me to touch it, I will not do so. He then moved back to the stump and said, Did you know that you were wrong for trying to stop the hunters and that you might get into trouble for doing so?

She looked right at him and said, Would you try to stop them if they were going to kill your friend?

He smiled at her and said, You’re right. I would stop them if it was a man or a woman. However, we need the meat that comes from the hunters. That is the way of the world, and we are a part of it. You see, the earth grows things for all of us to eat, and when we kill a beast that we all eat, we give it back to the earth in two ways. We move it through us, and it comes out of us in your waste and your water. When we move on to the next life, your body is given back to the earth. Therefore, when you tried to stop the hunters, you were taking away from the giving back to earth. We give most of the bones and some parts of the beast to the earth, and other beasts eat the parts we give back so they can give too.

He stopped, looked at the child with a strong look, and went on, You have a gift that I have never heard of before. So I need you to do something. He looked at the mom and said, "I need you not to tell anyone about your gifts for now. Your mom will help you by going out with only you and her. I will try to help you if you have anything I can help with. Now you are going to have to stay at your home until the feast and not leave at all. That is for interfering with the hunters.

The leader is not going to be happy about this and is going to be mad for some time. He asked me to have you thrown out of the village for talking to the boar and standing up to him. I will try to calm him, and next year is the gathering, where I will talk with all the wise men about your gift to see if they can help. They will want to see you and talk to you about your gift. They will want to see if you can talk to the birds and earth. That is next year, and I will have to help you until then. After the feast, I want to have you come by my home every other day until I have found out all I can about your gifts.

The two of them nodded and left the wise man’s home. The leader went back in to find out the things that he needs to and to get started. He started to yell at the wise man, that he was getting too soft and other things. He was mad at the wise man when he left the house and went to see how his injured man was. The next three days went by slow for the girl, with the mom and the girl staying in their home, not going out at all but to get food and water.

Most of the people in the village where talking about the boar hunt and the strange thing the girl was doing with the boar and all other things she was doing with the gathering. It did not help that the leader did not think the punishment was hard at all and that he was going to make sure that she paid for making him look bad in front of his men and the hurt man.

Over the three days, he came up with a plan to get back at her. He went to tell all the men in the village and told them not to say anything at the feast when he got up. He told them that, if they did do anything, he would make their lives much harder and their wives as well. This did not sit well with the men, and there was nothing they could do about it. The leader was looking for anyone that might stop his plan, going to them and talking to them. He was making sure that he would not be stopped and that no one would even try.

The day of the feast was a big thing for the village. It is for thanking of all the good things that happened from winter feast until now. There were three new babies and the best food gathering in years. No one was hurt badly. The boar was the pride for the leader and the hunters. However, there was something going on with the men in the village, and the women could see it. The leader was the one behind it, and he was going around as if he was the winner of all the game. Every time he would see the girl, he would get a smile. There were games of all kinds, and the wise men was doing the rights, talking to the women who just come of age to get a man and then talking to all of the men.

All the women could see that the men were not happy about something. Their game was off. They all would not meet the women’s eyes, and they all kept looking at the leader as if they were going to have to leave the village. Just as the sun was going down, the wise man got the feast started with the opening rights and said all the things he was thankful for, then everyone said something that they were thankful.

The wise man then said, It is good to hear all the great thanks we have had this year. There are three new babies in the village and have got their birthright done. We all know that we have three new women that have come of age, and it is time for me to give them to their men. Can the three please come up here?

As they did, he said, I have had a talk with all of the men to see if there was any hope for them staying in the village and not moving away. I am happy to tell you that they are all going to stay here with us. Can the three men come and take your new wives?

There was no sound from the village, but over the day, there was a talk of who was going to get a new wife. Most of the women could get a good guy and were right most of the time. The first man came up and grabbed one of the girls. They were both smiling as they moved back to his place. Then the next man came up, took one of the girls by the hand, and led her back to his place. The last man was the man that got hurt in the boar hunt.

She went to him and said, Stay where you are, or I will make you.

Most of the village had a small laugh. But she looked happy as she went to him, and so did he.

The wise man stood back up, still smiling, and said, Now that is over with—

That was all he said when the leader said, Not yet.

All of the villagers looked at him as he got to his feet and went up to the wise man and turned to the village.

Then he said, There is one more woman for a man to take tonight, and I claim her as my wife.

The wise man looked at him in puzzlement and said, Who?

He looked at the girl and said, Her.

Everyone looked at the girl.

He said, It was a woman who tried to stop us killing the boar, and I say that she is now a woman. I claim her as my wife. Is there any man her who would stop me?

There was no sound from the villages as he grabbed her and was moving her to where his other two women were.

Someone in the back said, I challenge you for the leadership and your right to take that girl as your wife. She is not yours, and I will not let you have her.

The leader looked where the sound was coming from, and there was a man just coming into the feast.

He said, You are back too soon. You weren’t to be back for another week.

The man said, It is a good thing I came back when I did, or you would have had my child as your wife.

The leader said, She is no girl anymore. She called out the hunters, and only a woman can do that. When she tried to stop us, she made herself a woman.

Some of the men were nodding.

But the man did not stop moving and said, Did you tell the wise man that you were going to do this? Or I think you came up with this by yourself to take my child for yourself.

He moved to where the wise man was and looked at the leader.

The leader let go of the girl, who ran back to her mom, and said, You have no right to challenge me. You are a trader and have no right.

The man looked at the leader and said, Anyone can challenge for leader if they are a man of the village and can do right by the village. If you do not think so, you can just ask the wise man. I am both of this village and will do right by it. He looked out at the villagers and continued, There will be a debt to my family from all the men that helped this leader. If I win, I will be leader, and you all will pay the debt the wise man will give you all, and this will end.

The leader moved to closer to the man with a big smile and said, If I win, you and your wife will leave the village by the end of tomorrow, and your child will be my wife, well, until the gathering anyways. I was going to give her to the old man with the bad arm from wolf camp.

The wise man said, So those are the terms, and you both are right with them?

The wise man looked at the leader. He nodded. Then the wise man looked to the man, and he nodded as well.

The wise man said, Is there no way other than this?

They both shook their head no.

The wise man said, Then you both know the rights. You fight until one cannot get up or I say it is over. No help from anyone unless you are on a break. No weapons. No clothes, just your hands and feet. You get one break called by your first wife, and I will tell you when to get back to it.

He looked up at the village and waved for the women to move and stand next to him. They did.

He looked out to the village and said, The terms are set. This is the last time I can try to stop this, can I?

Again the men shook their heads no.

The wise man said, Then the firelight is the boundary.

All the villagers moved out of the light and made a ring around it.

When that was done, the wise man said, Move to your points and make yourself ready.

The two men moved to the points, one to the sun and the other to the moon. There they took off everything they had on, put them into the hands of a friend, and then turned to the wise man to tell him that they were reedy.

When both were ready, the wise man said, "Get this over with, now."

The two men started to move around the fire in the same way. The leader was stronger, but the man was faster. The leader made the first move. He ran at the man and tried to get the man in a bear hug. He sidestepped the leader and tripped him, but he did not go down. The leader rounded, going for a punch to the face, but was to slow and got one to the side of the head. It was back and forth like this for some time. No one was getting ahead until the leader got a hit into the gut that knocked the wind out of him and then an uppercut that put the man on the ground.

The leader started to kick him when the wise man called to stop and said, There will be a break.

The leader looked up to see that the man’s wife had called for the break. He looked down at the man and said, Just stay down, and this will all be over, and your child will be my wife for now.

His wife ran to help him up and moved him back to his point. He was in a bad way. He thought that there were one or two ribs broken, and his hands were starting to bleed. He looked at his wife and then looked at the child and waved here over.

She came over to see that her dad was hurt and grabbed his hand and said, You are going to be all right.

She started to cry, and a light came over her and flowed into him. All of the village could see that the man had started to glow and all of the cuts were going away. The man looked at the girl, but the mom stopped him from saying anything. He not only could feel the pain going away. The ribs were all healed, and all his strength was coming back and more.

The leader started to yell, She is doing something to him! She can’t do that, and she is going to pay for that and other things.

The wise men went over to the man to get a better look and to see if he could go on.

The wise man looked at him, saw that he was all healed, and asked, Can you go on?

He nodded, and the wise man moved back to his place.

The man looked at his crying child and pulled her in so she was the only one that could hear him and said, Run and hide.

But all the girl heard over her crying was the word run. He got back to his feet and could feel that he was better than when the fight started. There was no pain. All the cuts had healed, and he felt better than new. He looked at the wise man and nodded.

The wise man said, "Back to it, now."

This time, there was a big shift in the fight. The leader could not get a hit in. The man was moving faster than before and was hitting the leader as if he was standing still. It did not take long before the leader was on the ground next to the fire.

The man looked at him and said, Give up. You have lost. It’s over.

The leader grabbed a sharp rock from around the firepit and drove it into the man’s chest, killing him, saying, Now it is.

The wife yelled as the man fell back with the rock still in his chest. The girl, seeing this, did just as her dad said and ran crying. The leader looked in shock and got up.

There was only one thing that the entire village feared more than death. That was for their pouch to be taken and burned on the fire. That act unlocks you from this world, and you become a spirit to roam alone forever and never moving on to the next life. No one can see you or talk to you. To all, you are no longer there, just a spirit that needs to leave. There are only two ways to get this to happen to you, rape a child and kill her soul or kill a man that is not trying to kill you.

The leader just killed a man that was not trying to kill him. The wise man knew there was nothing he could to save the leader. He pulled out a black rock out of his pouch and rubbed it on his hand. He placed his hand on the leader’s face, leaving red marks, and pulled off his self-pouch as he got to it. He then turned to the villagers, showing them the pouch, and then threw it into the fire. The entire village turned their back on the leader.

The wise man said, "To the spirit that is here, you must