A Journey Never Begun

Copyright (c) 2018 James Miehoff, All Rights Reserved.

This work may not be published whether for fee or free without this copyright.

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This is one of a series of stories set in the Land of Etherium, a place out of time where wizards channeled mana and a host of creatures we call fairy tales roamed the lands. It is said these tales occurred almost 27,000 years ago before a set of cataclysms shaped the face of the earth and the fairy folk retreated or we in our smugness, no longer saw them.

In any case, they are just stories after all, aren't they?

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This is part seven of the journey of Muddle to find a new Master to continue his magical education. If you haven't read the first six parts, please do, things may make more sense if you are caught up. I'll wait.

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It was a wet morning that Muddle and his familiar woke to. It had been raining most of the night and they had differing opinions of the day.

"Re-deep! ('Beautiful morning')," croaked the familiar.

"Gaaak!" said Muddle. "I was hoping for nice weather today. Oh, well. Grumbling won't get the work done."

He got up and grabbed a couple of buckets and headed for the stream. His familiar hopped along behind him snapping up the odd fly and other bug that chanced his way. Muddle shuddered at the echo of the taste of his familiar's breakfast.

When they got to the stream, Muddle spoke the ancient words of greeting and was not surprised that the naiad did not appear. After all it was a fairly long stream and she couldn't hang out waiting for him to appear.

He had brought some dirty clothes along and threw his trousers and shirt in the pile and began to do his laundry. His familiar made a disparaging remark and went off to do some froggy things.

Just before he was finished rinsing the last garment, he felt a familiar feeling echoing from his familiar and it caused his manhood to swell. Just then he heard a familiar giggling and looked over to see the naiad of the stream pointing at his erection and giggling.

"I say Master Muddle, you seem to be having some trouble with that unruly thing between your legs," she said between giggles. "I have seen many men peeing in and near my stream, but you are uncommonly well endowed."

Muddle sighed and said, "Thank you dear lady of the stream. I was fine until a few moments ago, when my familiar, apparently found some lady frogs."

Muddle pulled a pair of clean but wet trousers out of the pile to cover himself and hopefully the cold water would cool the situation down. It was a struggle but at last he pulled the trousers up over his manhood and felt a little more comfortable, if wet and cold.

"Since you are here, dear lady of the stream," Muddle began. "I was wondering if you could direct me to some fine clay that would be suitable for glazing some windows."

"I don't know what glazing is," the nymph responded. "But there is some very nice clay just downstream around that bend. The nice man who used to live in that house and his lady used to gather it and make dishes and things out of it."

"That sounds perfect," said Muddle. "Please lead the way."

The two of them went downstream to find the clay and it was as nice as the naiad had said. Muddle filled one of the buckets and thanking the nymph went back to gather his clothes and the other bucket.

When he returned to the house, Muddle ran a line through the great room and hung his clothes to dry. He threw a couple logs on the fire to heat the room up and speed the drying.

Once that chore was complete, he picked up one of the sheets of glass and the bucket of mud and proceeded to fit the glass into the window pane. A short time later, he stepped back and admired his work.

"Not as good as Samwell the glazer, but it looks like it will keep the rain and wind and bugs out," said Muddle.

He then went and got the next sheet of glass and repeated the process and then the next, until all the windows had glass in them. Because the original window panes never had glass in them, he had to improvise on a couple of them, but in the end the windows in the house were complete.

When he shut the door, Muddle immediately realized his mistake. The fire billowed smoke back into the house and he found himself choking. He opened the door to run out and the smoke started going back up the chimney. Puzzled, he closed the door and smoke billowed out. Opened the door and it went up the chimney properly. He thought about it for a long time and then realized that the house was so snug with the new glass windows that there wasn't enough air coming in for the fire to burn correctly and go up the chimney, so the smoke backed up into the house.

Leaving the door open, Muddle went into the shop and looked around. When he found what he was looking for, he went to work and soon had a small metal mesh with tiny holes in it. The holes were small enough that he didn't think bugs could get in. He took his creation and went to the side of the house away from the chimney. Loosening a small stone in the side of the house up under the eaves, he fitted his mesh in place of the stone and then went inside. When he closed the door the fire didn't pour smoke into the house. And when he held his hand up in front of the hole where the stone had been he felt a breeze coming in.

"Clever man," Muddle said. "That was what those vents were that Berek used to make. They vented the houses so the smoke would go up the chimney the way it was supposed to."

Pleased with himself, Muddle poured some of the fresh water into his cook pot and then took the rest outside to wash up. When he was done, a familiar face waddled into view.

Muddle chuckled and said to his familiar, "Did we have fun with the ladies today?"

"Re-deep! ('Oh yes')," was the reply. "Re-deep! ('Many tadpoles soon')"

"Very well," said Muddle. "Let me get my supper and then I will continue the story of the creation of my grimoire."

"Re-deep ('Supper for me too')," said the frog.

It was about an hour later that his familiar hopped up on the chair and then onto the table. Muddle had just finished washing his plate and the cookpot and was just getting his bedroll out for the night.

Muddle thought back and said, "If I recall, I had just left the naiad of the stream and she agreed to let me call her Sparkle. I went back to the mining camp and made myself ready for the night.

"The next morning I woke and after getting ready, I went to the blacksmith shop again. The fire still burned in the black rocks, so I used the bellows to wake them up fully and threw some more on. When those were glowing nicely, I put the rough dagger back in. When it was ready, I pulled it from the fire with the tongs and continued to beat on it with the hammer until I was satisfied that it was as close to complete as I could make it.

"The end of the day was near, but I couldn't wait. I stoked the fire and put the blade back in. I pumped on the bellows until I was seeing spots in front of my eyes. I got the dagger hotter that I had ever gotten it before and then quickly quenched it in a fresh bucket of cold water from the stream.

"I heard a 'PING' from the bucket and I was sure that I had shattered it.

"When I looked in the bucket, I was as surprised as it is possible to be. There resting on the bottom of the bucket was a perfect dagger blade. When I pulled it out, it was shiny and bright without a blemish. Of course it had no edge yet, but I was overjoyed at how well it turned out.

"There was a broken dagger in the scraps heap and I fished it out. With a little work I had pried the cap off of it and unwound the skin and removed the guard. Amazingly the guard fit perfectly and I was going to reuse the strip of skin that had been wound around the old dagger, but something caught my eye. Hanging in the corner were 4 strips of sharkskin. What they were doing up here was a mystery. But sharkskin was one of the best materials to bind a handle with. I took two strips and wove them in the pattern Berek had taught me. Once the weave was complete, I drove the tang over the sharkskin and hammered the end of the shank down to make it all one piece.

"When I was done, I walked out of the shop in time to see the sunrise. I had worked all night in a fever pitch of activity.

"Reluctantly, I banked the fire and put the dagger down and walked back to the house. There I fell into a deep sleep and I slept the day away and didn't wake until the next morning. In my dream, I had been visited by the eldest of the oak dryads. She told me where there was a stand of ancient walnut trees that were guarded by their nymphs. I promised her that I would go there as soon as I could. 'Finish your sky metal blade,' she said. 'It will serve you well.' And then I awoke.

"After eating a big meal I went back to the shop and pulled out the blade to examine it in the light. It was very nearly complete. It just needed an edge.

"I ruined a perfectly good file on it. The teeth of the file were no match for the sky metal. It cut a whetstone in half when I tried that. A granite grinding wheel drew a few sparks but the blade did more damage to the wheel than the wheel did to the blade.

To say I was frustrated Mr. Frog, would be a very large understatement. In my frustration, I sat on one end of the piece of sky metal and threw the dagger at the ground. Eventually I missed and the dagger skinned the edge of the sky metal. When it did, it threw up a handful of sparks. When I retrieved the blade I could see where it had been scratched by the edge of the sky metal lump.

"Excitedly I rubbed the dagger on the side of the sky metal lump and I could see that it was grinding it. Well, that was all the encouragement I needed. By the end of the day, my arms ached my back ached even my legs ached from squatting next to the sky metal, but I had a proper dagger with two incredibly sharp edges. I now had something out of legend, a sky metal dagger.

"It was starting to get dark, so I decided to go get cleaned up by the stream. As I approached, Sparkle was sitting on a rock with her leg in the stream. Suddenly, she screamed and dove for the water almost faster than the eye could see.

"I didn't know what she was screaming about until she said 'Bithmal'. Mal in the ancient tongue means 'fell from' and bith means 'the sky'. So 'fell from the sky' or sky metal.

"Once I realized that she was talking about the dagger, I immediately placed it on the ground and walked to the stream with my hands empty before me. 'I wish you no harm, Sparkle,' I said. 'See, I put it on the ground over there. It can't harm you.'

"She did not come any closer, but she did calm down.

"I asked, 'Why are you so afraid?'

"She stood shaking for a long time and then said quietly, 'The metal that blade is made from is one of the few things that can kill nymphs and separate them from their souls. If my stream was dammed up, I would die, but my soul would go beyond to the next place. But if I were cut by a blade such as that, my soul would be cut away from my body and both would die. I would not go on.'

"I stood silent for a time and as a tear rolled down my cheek, I said to her, 'Sparkle, no, my dearest Lady Zeudle, never would I ever use a blade such as that on any nymph be they water, earth, air or sea. I did not know that they put your souls in peril. I humbly apologize for even bringing it near you.'

"She looked at me for a long time. I felt as though she was searching my soul. Finally, she spoke in a voice I recognized as not her own, 'Child of Destiny, there will come a time where you may need to choose between your pledge to never use the blade of sky metal and the fate of the world. Choose wisely when that time comes. But until then, we accept your promise. Make a scabbard for your blade from the skin of this fish and it will protect us from the harm it might do.'

"Sparkle walked toward me and just before she came to the rock on the edge of the stream, she reached down and pulled up a catfish that must have been two feet long. 'Be merciful and behead the fish quickly with your sky blade,' she said before turning and melting back into the water.

"I looked down at the fish and said to myself, 'What about his soul?'

"Sparkle's voice came as if from far away, 'Sky metal only cleaves the souls of nymphs and other magical beings. If will just kill animals and humans, their souls are different and they will go beyond.'

"Reassured, I retrieved the dagger and quickly cut off the head of the fish with a single stoke. As I returned the head to the stream, I swore I heard it say, 'Thank you.' Today was becoming way too weird.

"I stripped the skin from the fish and then returned the rest to the stream. I was not going to eat it.

"Before darkness fell, I took the skin and soaked it in a bucket of water. Going into the woods I gathered some herbs and added them to the water in the bucket to tan the skin.

"Stretching and yawning I headed to the house to get some rest.

"The next day, I pulled the skin from the bucket and marveled at how well it had tanned. It was very stiff and I had to use the dagger to cut it into the shape needed for a sheath. I added a loop across the top to make sure that it could never fall out accidentally and hurt anyone.

"Since it was not yet noon, I decided that today would be a good day to try and find the walnut grove. With the sheath on my hip and my backpack, I set off to follow the directions I had received in my dream.

"A little after midday on the third day, I found a circle of walnut trees. While I was pretty sure this was the place the dream foretold of, I bowed my head and began the words of greeting. When I looked up, I saw what appeared to be an old lady sitting on a large root that protruded from the earth.

"When she saw me, she nodded and said, 'Come closer child, that mine old eyes may see thee the better.'

"I approached her and she squinted at me. She turned her head sideways and squinted at me again. Finally, she straightened her head up and asked, 'How may we be of help to thee?'

"I thought for a second and said, 'Milady, I am set upon a quest by my Master to construct a grimoire, or die trying. I have been gifted oak as part of the cover of my grimoire. It will lend strength. Walnut, I was told will work with oak to provide beauty and depth of knowledge and will make a much more powerful grimoire.'

"The lady pursed her lips and said, 'Yes. This is true. But why should we help thee?'

"I thought again much longer this time. 'You shouldn't,' I said. 'You don't know me, nor do you know if I would use your gift for good or ill. I can only ask and if you deny me, I will leave and not return.'

"She looked at me and I felt like my whole life was on display for her. Every good thing, every bad thing, everything I had done and everything I would do was laid bare for her. As I stood trembling, I could feel more nymphs coming out to look at me. I knew that with a word from the elder before me I would draw no more breaths.

"Then, she nodded and stood. And in standing the years dissolved off of her. By the time she was standing fully in front of me, it was not an elegant old lady, but a young and mature grand lady of the caryatids who stood there.

"When she spoke, it was the same voice, but much younger that said, 'Thou hast done well, Child of Destiny. Thou hast stood without fear where no man has lived to tell the tale. Many men have come and many men now fertilize the trees. We will grant your boon, but with one condition. When it is time for thee to make the ultimate choice, do not let the petty ills thou hast done in your life rule thee. Cling to the good that thou hast done and think of the ones that have helped thee on thy journey.'

"With that, I bowed my head and said softly, 'I thank you Great Lady of the Walnut trees.'

"When I looked up, she had gone over to her tree. A branch came down and she snipped two sections with her fingers. She patted the branch and it returned back up into the tree. She ran her hands over the pieces of wood and the bark sloughed off and she was left with two rods. I didn't see what she did with the first rod, but she took her thumbnail and ran it lengthwise down the rod and a thin sheet peeled off. She did this several times until the rod had been turned into a thin sheet of flat wood. She nodded and the sheet disappeared and the other rod appeared. She did the same thing until she had a second flat sheet of wood. She made the first sheet reappear and trimmed the sheets with her thumbnail. She ran her thumbnail along one edge and a one inch strip was cut off. Holding her handiwork out, she nodded and as before in the oak grove, the lady handed the pieces to the nymphs who kissed them and passed them on.

"I called out to the obviously tired elder and asked if I might thank each of her sisters for their blessing of the wooden pieces. She nodded weakly and I approached the first nymph. She was quivering like a branch that just had a squirrel jump from it. I stopped in front of her, bowed and said, 'Thank you.' As I did in the oak grove, I lightly kissed her forehead and felt the mana swelling. She smiled and curtsied and I moved to the next, and then the next, until I had made the full circle.

"When I stood in front of the elder of the caryatids, she bade me come closer and she said, 'The heart of the tree is the true heart,' as she handed me the three pieces.

"I bowed and said, 'I thank you and your sisters for this gift. I will strive always to be worthy of it.' As I raised my head, she reached out and pulled me to her and kissed my forehead. The swelling of mana was almost overwhelming.

"As I turned and walked from the circle, I saw that the other nymphs had vanished and as I looked over my shoulder, I saw the elder melding with her tree.

Muddle got up and stretched and addressing his familiar said, "And now Mr. Frog, I feel the need to relieve myself and stretch my legs. Feel free to do the same and I will meet you back here shortly."

The frog just blinked slowly without comment.

Muddle grabbed a rag and wet it down as he headed out the door.

A few minutes later he was back and again addressing the frog said, "I feel much better now. I hope that bush appreciates the load of fresh fertilizer I dumped on it. I feel several pounds lighter.

His familiar just made a chuckling sort of noise and said, "Re-deep ('More story')?"

Muddle nodded and said, "I think we have time for the next part of my adventure before it is time to sleep.

"As I walked away from the circle of walnut trees, I couldn't believe my good fortune. Not just a cover of oak, but one of oak and walnut. I will need to create a hinge and corner pieces of incredible beauty to do justice to this grimoire.

"As it was getting dark, I knew I still had several days walking before I was back at the mining camp. So I found a nice sheltered spot and set up camp. During the night, I heard the most awful howling and screaming. In the dark, it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. I was determined to stay awake to be able to defend myself. Of course, morning found me fast asleep.

"A little embarrassed that I had fallen asleep, I was determined to make good time and get back to the mining camp as soon as possible. Unfortunately, my thoughts were not on my surroundings as I was trying to think of the most perfect skin to use to cover the wooden core of my grimoire. There was a huge stag that I had seen near the mining camp that would be perfect I though. Or what about that bear that left the droppings I had seen a couple of times. Or what about a beaver, they are so smart with their dam engineering.

"So went my thoughts until I rounded that boulder and saw what was in the clearing ahead. I ducked back as fast as I could hoping against hope that the dragon I had glimpsed had not seen me.