The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (20 page)

Gyan smiled, feeling the man on the edge of
capitulation. “You don’t have to feel ‘beholden’, but you do have
to respect their role in keeping certain things in balance. Bure
and his kin went out of their way to kill all skunks in the
prairies. Now look at the problem we have! Too many vesi, mice and
bugs and people getting sick! I have consulted the ancient’s
archives and have reintroduced skunks into Duluse and Pastarham. I
want them to thrive! Do you understand?”

The man was definitely processing the
information. What Gyan had going for him was that people had an
ingrained respect for the Great One of the realm. They were willing
to listen to him. Erin wasn’t stupid. She was well aware that the
words would carry more weight if Gyan said them rather than an
anonymous young woman with a really short haircut. Gyan gave the
man some time then he asked softly, “How many feel the way you
did?”

Robb answered the Great One with downcast
eyes. “Several. We just didn’t know. We didn’t understand!”

Gyan patted the man on his shoulder as he got
up, “That’s why I needed to make this trip. I will answer people’s
questions tomorrow. Tonight we need to get a good night’s sleep in
your very nice establishment. We’ll see you early in the morning.”
Everyone in the party thanked Robb for the meal. One of the
security men made sure that the man was paid and they all trooped
up the stairs to their respective rooms.

Gyan softly asked Drune and Erin to come into
his room for a moment. When the door was closed he put his hand on
Erin’s shoulder. “Thank you. Was that owl Nuit?” She shook her
head. “Probably by tomorrow.”

“Okay, I need to get in touch with Lor. Let’s
sit down and get comfortable. Position yourself like we did that
night in the tent.” They settled themselves and Gyan cleared his
mind.

‘Lor, have you any answers for me, man?’ ‘Hey
Gyan. The experts feel that they have the piece calibrated. The
next eclipse is in eleven days. It isn’t an ordinary eclipse but a
total eclipse! From what I’ve read of the ancient’s message, that
is the big one to set the adjustment. It will also be the most
disruptive, tectonically. If you miss that one there are other
smaller ones coming up. In twenty days is the next lunar eclipse.’
Gyan groaned. ‘Nothing like cutting this close. Well, we have a lot
to do.’

He paused then went onto the next point.
‘Lor, do you understand how we found and followed our trail of
clues from the ancients?’

‘Yes. I studied the books that were still
laid out and understand how Erin discovered the thread that led to
the information.’ ‘Good’ said Gyan, “I want you to go back to the
first book and look for every celtic design. If there aren’t
anymore, look for other types of motif. We’ve found most of what we
need but I have a hunch that we haven’t found it all. Specifically,
how do we explain Ree’s henge and does it play a part in all of
this! Get on this in the morning. We have a meeting with the people
of Wellyn then leave for Morraton. I will contact you later.’

Gyan opened his eyes and looked at the two
young sages. “How much did you get?”

Drune spoke. “I got the most important parts.
Eleven days from now a total eclipse and tectonically disruptive.
Other than that Lor will be hitting the library.” Erin nodded.

That sums it up.” Gyan shrugged. “We work
with what we have. Get to bed. You need a good nights sleep.
Tomorrow will be another interesting day.”

Drune and Erin opened his door heading for
their own rooms. “Good night, Gyan. Rest well.”

The morning broke to clear skies and crisp
weather. When Erin opened her door she found her coat and trousers
from yesterday dry and folded neatly. Smiling she put her trousers
in her pack, laid her coat on the bed in preparation for grabbing
before the meeting and went down to breakfast. They ate hurriedly
as the town meeting was going to start soon.

Gyan stepped outside onto the porch to a
growing crowd. It wasn’t every day that people could meet the
realm’s Great One! Erin and Drune, with their ‘doors’ wide open,
were mingling with the people. Security men were mixed discreetly
with the crowd as well as standing on or near the porch. There was
chatter and milling around before it quieted.

When everybody settled down Gyan started with
a wink and a wry statement. “Good to see you. I don’t get out
much!” There was laughter. “Actually I am here today because of the
rather challenging weather and quakes we have had. I need to hear
your concerns and to share with you what I know and have learned
from the ancient’s archives in Aerie. I would like to start by
asking you to tell me what’s on your mind. So we are not all
talking at once, please raise your hand.”

A man in the back raised his hand and Gyan
pointed at him and nodded. “The quakes were bad and the storms have
been nasty. Thankfully much of this has happened after harvest, but
now we have mice, vesi and bugs in our grain stores. Seems we have
more of the critters than we ever had before. Last few days I have
seen a skunk in the area. I heard that witches are the blame for
this. That seems a stretch but I can’t think of any other
explanation.” There was a murmuring in the crowd of agreement.

Gyan nodded his head. “That is a well thought
out statement. First I would like to compliment you. Several people
I have spoken to are fearful about the storms and quakes. You don’t
like them but you are taking them in stride. In the archives at
Aerie the weather records go back centuries. Our planet has done
this before. My guess is we will have some more of this before it
settles down.”

“Now to address the pests. The ancients set
up a system of balances. The mice, vesi and bug populations are
kept in balance by birds and animals that eat them. Those wild
predator populations are correspondingly controlled by their food
supply and others who kill them. The weather we have been having
has set up perfect breeding conditions for mice and vesi. The
amount of water in our soil, with the rains have brought the bugs
to the surface. Now we have a lot of pests.”

A voice from the back shouted out, “So why
aren’t they being controlled by the ones that eat them?”

Gyan paused to get everyones attention.
“Because some superstitious people, who believe in witches, have
been going out of their way to kill those useful animals!”

There was a confused murmuring. The first man
raised his hand again. “What are you talking about?”

Gyan voice got a trifle harder. “I am talking
about skunks, and to a lesser degree, hawks, owls and ottols.”

The crowd erupted. “Skunks!” They are bad!”
“Evil.” “Ottol pelts are wonderful.” “An owl dived at my son!”
“...skunk sprayed Roal when he tried to get it out of his barn!
Took him weeks...”

Gyan let it go on for a moment longer then
held up his hand for silence. When he finally got it he continued.
“A skunk, or any other animal isn’t evil.” There was another brief
flare-up of voices. He put his fists on his hips and stared at the
crowd. When it got quieter he said, “We cannot have a civil
discussion if there is a shouting match! We have always respected
the ancients and I am sharing with you some of their information
that was in Aerie’s archives. There are things I have learned that
have caused me to readjust my thinking. The least you can do is
hear what the ancients have said!” He looked around at the crowd
again. Drune and Erin were shifting in the crowd. Erin rubbed under
her chin with the back of her hand subtly giving an ‘it can go
either way’ signal.

“We need these wild ones in our realm. They
are the ones that will bring the pest population under control. If
we continue killing them then we are dooming ourselves to
overwhelming populations of bugs, vesi and mice!” He paused to
judge if they were listening. “Any of the wild ones will defend
themselves or their young just as you would. They are not going to
attack you because they are feeling grumpy. Owls and skunks can rid
a barn of pests. If you leave these animals alone they will tend to
avoid you but eat what ‘bugs’ you.”

“The man who started the ‘witch’ story is a
convicted murderer who is now spending the rest of his life
banished to Obsidian. He even killed his aunt who had taken him and
his siblings in and lovingly raised them. Bure was an evil man who
has caused much damage. He also is the one who has encouraged
people to kill skunks. Because of him and his kin the entire skunk
population in the prairies was wiped out!”

The first man raised his hand again. Gyan
glanced at Erin and Drune. Both gave him slight nods. Gyan pointed
to the man. “They weren’t wiped out. I saw one the other
evening!”

Gyan held up his hand. “Let me rephrase what
I just said. The population of skunks WAS entirely wiped out in the
prairies. I confirmed this through very special ancient technology
that only the Great One of the realm can access. So I recruited
some skunks to emigrate to Duluse and Pastarham. What you saw were
the first of these animals.”

The crowd reacted with noise and Gyan made
motions with his hands to quiet them. “Let’s have this out. You
have admitted to having a pest problem which is making you ill. You
have heard what I learned from the ancients in the archives and
what I have done in my role as leader of the realm to help rectify
the imbalance. What would you suggest?”

One woman raised her hand. “We’re supposed to
befriend smelly skunks that can spray us?”

“Skunks are small and you are large. Their
defense of last resort is the smelly spray. I suggest that you have
a healthy respect for that line of defense and don’t threaten or
corner them. I didn’t say you had to befriend them but you should
appreciate what they do for you. Let them eat your pests. I must
say that they are a great early warning system for quakes.”

He winked at the crowd in Erin’s direction.
She relayed the message to Tempo who ran out of the barn toward
Gyan. “We have a very well mannered wild skunk traveling with us
who has helped us a number of times by letting us know a quake was
immanent. He has also kept down the vesi population wherever we
have camped.” There were startled comments and the crowd parted as
Tempo ran through. He arrived at Gyan’s side and stood beside him
looking toward the crowd. “Let me make some points perfectly clear.
I am not a witch. They don’t exist outside of children’s stories.
This is a wild animal and not a pet or a familiar. No one in my
party has been sprayed because we respect the animal.”

One old man raised his hand and Gyan caught
Drune’s frown. “If you aren’t a witch and that animal is not your
familiar how did you call him? How did you get skunks to come
here?”

The crowd was so quiet Gyan could hear a bee
flying by. “I told you about the ancient’s archive. They were
phenomenally wise beings who set up this balance so we could live
in this realm. They foresaw the possibility that the Great One
would need to communicate with wild ones, on a limited basis, in an
emergency. What is happening in our realm is an emergency
situation. So I have access to a special translator that allows me
to communicate with them.” He pulled out his pendant and held it
up. “As soon as this crisis situation is over this will go back
into the secure storage that the ancient’s made.” Drune gave him a
small nod.

Gyan waited for that to sink in. “Any more
questions about the pest problem?” No one raised their hand. “Are
you okay with what I told you so far?”

A man in front chuckled, “I wouldn’t
necessarily use the word ‘okay’ in reference to skunks, but I agree
to give them their space to eat all of the pests they want and I
won’t kill them.” There was laughter in the crowd and nods of
agreement.

“Does anyone have anything to share about the
weather and the quakes?”

A young woman with a baby on her hip raised
her hand. “These archives that the ancients left sound pretty
phenomenal. Did they tell you how to stop the storms and
quakes?”

Gyan smiled. “That is a very good question.
The short answer is... yes.” There was very interested murmuring in
the crowd. “We will always have weather. Storms occur. Occasionally
we have quakes. What makes this fall different is that it has been
a really long time since we have had the activity that we have had
lately. The archives told us that this magnitude of planetary
unrest is caused by the destabilization in the geomagnetic energy
within the planet itself. Apparently the weather and the tectonic
activity are controlled by this energy. I don’t fully understand
it. I am sure that the ancients did, but it is sort of like a
battery. We all have them. If the connection between your windmill
and your battery was loose, would your battery charge? The wind
energy would still be there but the energy it created wouldn’t be
stored and channeled usefully.”