Summer 3, 511
To stray only a few feet from the road was to stumble on a peculiarly marked tree. Every time a branch broke from its stalk, there had been carved some unintelligible, inconsistent symbol, white and wet and fresh. Some similar drawings were also strewn in the dirt near the base of the tree, if the day’s fauna had not trampled it, like a circle of protection around both the plant and the wooden traveller’s box that sat beside it. A keen eye might even notice a man among the green leaves, perched against the trunk with his legs wrapped around a thick branch.
His eyes were closed deliberately, his face twisted into an affected calm. Sometimes he leaned down so that his hands gripped the living wood, but something he sat up again, distracted. It was not his first attempt at meditation, but neither was it any more successful than the others. He did not even know what it was, really, only that the priests back home did it, and could speak to Rhysol himself. Sometimes he prayed, talking to air as if someone could hear him, and sometimes he just thought, trying to find some sort of inspiration in it all.
Now, he thought he could reach out with his own energy, just think and push and try. He was delirious with hunger, fatigue, and the loss of his only companion for so many weeks. He did not realize how close he was to success, but all he felt was desperation. His palms were still red, dry tears carved through the filth on his face. For a moment, he thought he felt a glimmer of blue light in the darkness of his mind’s eye. Then he lost his balance.
His surprised voice sent a cloud of birds flying in panic. There was only air between him and the ground, and a series of sharp, snapping branches. His hands groped at the rough bark for an eternity before he managed to grab a large knot in the tree. Body swinging and arms aching from the sudden loss of momentum, Victor found himself hanging, breathing hard, stunned. He looked down and saw that he was still too far to drop comfortably to the ground, so he carefully slid down to a low hanging limb and took a seat there to reorient himself. His head knocked against the wood behind him and he exhaled heavily, one hand on his chest as if it would soothe his flustered heart.