Chapter 1 Part 4

The next morning Sam awoke with the one of the two moons shining in his face through the window. The chill in the cabin told him that his foster father and uncle were still in bed as the fire had died earlier during the night.

He crawled out of his bed and dressed himself quickly. The two adults had long since gotten used to his nighttime activities. He found it hard to sleep at night and preferred to do his chores in the darkness. His foster father and uncle both preferred the daylight, but the light hurt Sam's eyes sometimes.

There were several things that he had not yet figured out that his mentors had mentioned on occasion. Color, for example made no sense whatsoever. He had heard them discuss it before, but he could not determine what they were talking about. All he knew was that some things had a different color than others did. But to him they all seemed the same. It was a puzzle.

Sam navigated in the darkness with ease. The light in the room made everything visible, even though the light was from a partially hidden moon. He knew that he could see better in the dark than his foster father and much better than his uncle, but again he did not know why.

Sam made his way to the common room where he saw his uncle sleeping in a hammock near the dimly glowing coals. Quietly he poked the coals until a small yellow flame erupted. Sam then tossed some kindling onto the flame and watched as it caught fire. Sam nursed the fire until a small blaze was churning and the warmth began to radiate throughout the cabin via the water filled pipes that his uncle had designed and installed in the fireplace.

With the fire going again, Sam went to the door and donned his coat, mittens and boots. Then he quietly exited the house.

The moons were on opposite sides of the sky and the light was evenly distributed throughout the nearby wooded area. To the south, the meadows where the animals were kept glistened with the wetness of the recent rains. North and east of the cabin the woods beckoned silently and Sam responded by hefting a double bladed axe and marching off on his nightly trek in search of wood for the fire.

Sam walked for about half an hour through terrain he was very familiar with until he came to a large oak tree. He stopped and put his axe down. "Rida," he called.

A moment later and a slender young lady of about equal height appeared. She had long hair that she insisted was golden, but Sam did not understand that reference just like he did not understand about her green eyes. To him they looked like everyone else's eyes.

"Hello, Sam," she greeted him. "You are early tonight."

"My uncle’s here and I want to spend as much time with him as I can when he wakes," Sam explained.

"So you are doing your chores early," she concluded.

"Yes," Sam said. "And now," his voice became serious and sad, "I must get more wood for our fireplace."

The dryad frowned for a moment then smiled reassuringly. "Don’t feel bad, Sam," she said. "Most people just kill the first tree they come to. At least you let me choose the sick and diseased ones for you to mercifully put your axe to."

"Still, I know that it hurts you to see any tree fall."

"In this case I’ll thank you," Rida said. "Over there,:” she indicated a particular direction, “about three hundred paces is a tall hickory tree that has been attacked by beetles. Since no dryad lives there the tree has suffered and no druid has come to our calling to heal it. It’s close to death now and we hear its cry of pain daily. It has asked that we send you to it to end its suffering."

Sam lifted his axe. "I am on my way," Sam said. "Tell the tree I will be as quick and painless as possible."

Rida gave the youth a quick hug. "Thank you," she said as the boy disappeared into the darkness.

Sam found the tree with little effort. It was devoid of almost all of its foliage and the boreholes in its trunk smelled of sap. At its base small piles of sawdust from the boreholes only served to show how severe the tree's condition was. Sam looked up at the tree. Its limbs drooped as if the tree was tired of holding them up. Sam could almost hear the ancient plant weeping.

"I have sharpened my blade," he whispered not knowing if the tree could hear him. "I will be quick and merciful. You have lived a full life. And even in death you will serve life well." With that Sam braced his feet and hefted the ax into a huge swing that cut deeply into the trunk. Within moments he was halfway through. He wasted no time in notching the opposite side and the swaying tree was felled with an almost audible sigh.

Sam lowered his ax and gazed at the fallen citizen of nature. He began trimming the twigs off and piled them up nearby. The twigs would make good kindling for Sam intended to waste no part of the old sentinel of the forest. To leave any part unused would be an insult to the very existence of the tree, that was a lesson Armegon had drilled into him since he had been getting the firewood.

Finally, Sam took to cutting the limbs into firewood. Later he skinned the bark from the trunk. Armegon knew how to turn bark into paper. Then he would split the trunk into boards, rails, or some other useful item that could be made. He worked quickly and when the chopping was done, he gathered as many of the larger chips as he could find and placed them with the kindling wood.

At last he sat on the stump and reviewed his efforts. This night's work would last the rest of the week, he decided. He would not need to disturb his friend Rida for another dying tree for some time.

Sam gathered up the limbs that he had chopped for the fire and tied a few of them to together to create a pallet for hauling the others. The rest he loaded on his make-shift sled and turned back to address the stump. "Thank you for all that you will give us. I will remember this gift," he said respectfully.

When his benediction was finished, he turned back to the sled to shoulder the pull rope. As he reached for the rope his eyes fell upon a limb that he had missed while he had loaded the sled. He walked over and picked the limb up. It was about a meter long with a diameter only slightly larger than his wrist. He gripped the stick tightly and gave it a good swing. The motion was fluid and smooth.

Sam smiled. He would honor this tree by using it as his uncle had suggested. This would be his first fighting staff. Sam's thoughts were followed by a gentle and warm breeze as if the tree's spirit approved of his plan.

Armegon was pleased with Sam's logic. It was after all the appropriate thing to do. Armegon knew of Sam's dryad friend. He had spoke briefly with her one evening while Sam was out on his weekly wood gathering chore. It was of the dryad Armegon had asked to teach the boy the ways of nature since he was neither druid nor ranger himself. She had agreed reluctantly at first, but when Armegon explained the boy's unique heritage, she eagerly accepted the task.

Ultrecht too was pleased with Sam's choice of limbs for the metal sleeve. "Oak would accept the magic better," he had whispered to Armegon, "but this’ll do. Marlena would’ve been proud."

Armegon promised that he would help Sam construct the staff the next day. But first Sam had other chores to do and his daily lesson to learn.

Sam was off in a flash. The suns had risen only an hour before and the boy was already half done with his morning chores. Later he would go in, eat, and then sleep well into the afternoon only to rise near dusk to be tutored in whatever lesson Armegon was preparing during the day. This daily routine took advantage of the nocturnal nature of the boy's genetic father as well as helped him hone whatever skills Armegon could teach him.

Armegon ate some warmed bread and cheese as he tried to shake the sleep out of his own head. He and Ultrecht had spoken for some time before Ultrecht had excused himself to pack for departure. They had decided that in spite of the lack of funds for a long journey, Sam did need to be exposed to the real world, so as soon as Ultrecht could return, they were going to take the boy to visit the city.

One week in a large city should be sufficient education to let the boy know what else lay out in the world, then Armegon would bring him back and train him on how to stay alive. Armegon had decided that they would be better off taking the youth to Tycho where his unusual features would not stand out so much.

Armegon watched Sam lead a mare across the corral to the barn where she could be put in with a stallion. Perhaps next month, he decided, nothing important would be happening next month. And by then Ultrecht would be back and they could make the four month round trip. Armegon sat back amusing himself with how Ultrecht had responded to the suggestion of a family vacation.