Chapter 16
Looking down on the fortress of Jorvik, provided there wasn’t a Sleeper Tree in the way, you would see a circle, divided into quadrants. The circle was define by earth and grass. Likely, from a random walk from outside coming in, you would think it was just a hill that needed to be climb; only when you arrived at the top you would be looking into a small city, and likely dying of from the wounds of a dozen arrows before you even realized you were dead. One medium size Sleeper Tree rose from the north of the fortress, and its canopy shielded the whole of the compound, as if someone had planted a Boa Tree and attached a roof. They emerged from the gate into directed lights, which left them blind to the room they were in. Shen and TL had VR of the room, a temple with a single gate. There was a roof supported by iconic pillars. The entire temple was solid granite.
Shen was unprepared for the cold that hit his face. “Fuck, it’s cold.”
“I will get you proper clothing at my home,” Arne assured him. “You might fit in my son’s clothes.”
“Or your daughters,” Erico said.
Arne laughed.
Someone said: “I recognize that laugh. Arne? Come forwards into the light.”
Arne walked forwards, boldly greeting the group of warriors that had gathered. He boldly collected the hovering scout-orb.
“Not afraid of a child’s toy, are you?”
While they were talking, Torny noticed Shen. He was pale, as if he had seen a ghost. She noticed TL attending to him, mystified by what she assumed was silent communication.
“What?” Torny asked. “The cold is that bad?”
“I feel like I have been here before,” Shen said. He and TL silently agreed that he should share openly, wanting to affirm his vision. Specifically, it reminded him of the place where a character in a story, Emmitt Sheehan, had experienced his transpersonal evolution, and finally joined with Solarchariot- the emergence of TL. He had thrown the Torch into the ocean, had second thoughts, dived in, drowned, and the raised by TL, a fiery, watery Phoenix. “It reminds me of the Faroe Islands. Almost all this island is elevated away from the sea. There is lake and a water fall that falls into the sea. There is one place, low and flush with the sea, with a circular compound like this, but bigger, and ships are there, some in the making. Between here and there are a number of villages, grass covered roofs,” Shen said. He wondered if ‘Sheehan’ and ‘Shen’ were related, or just coincident.
Arne, the guard, and an elderly woman drew closer, listening to Shen. They brought lights, born on the staffs of sleeper trees, balancing out the light around the gate. Shen had a sudden flash of anger, and gripped TL’s arm. Rock and Abby positioned themselves as if there might be a fight.
“We’re going home, now,” Shen said.
“How have we offended you?” Arne asked.
“Wrong question,” the elderly woman said. “What did you see?”
Shen met her eyes. “Your ships are constructed out of Sleeper Trees,” Shen said.
“I cannot associate with people that kill these trees.”
“So, you can’t see everything,” the elderly woman said. She seemed pleased by this information. “You’re human.”
“Friend, Shen,” Arne said. “No one here would drop a Sleeper Tree. Not even the dragons will burn a Sleeper. This canopy has likely saved us from having to go war with the Sky People. Yes, our ships are made from Sleepers. Neither dragon nor levitation will attack a ship made from this wood. Only humans will do that. And few can take us on with good outcomes. We only use trees that were felled by nature, not man. Killing a sleeper in any realm we have visited is punishable by death. That said, all people cherish the wood from this tree. It holds value higher than gold.” Arne offered Shen the orb. “No one here will stop you from leaving, if you so choose, but I ask you to trust me. I will not betray your trust.”
Shen let go of TL’s arm. His hands were shaking. TL took the orb, pocketed it in her bag. “I am sorry. I don’t know why I am so shaken.”
“Because no one has taught you how to see,” the elderly woman said. “You are getting bits of pieces and making assumption and you are afraid. To divine the truth of something, you must not just see the now of it, you must track the entire world line of it. Even better if you can understand all the vectors of it, and the influencers of it, from before it’s cradle even emerged. Few can do that much, but it is truly necessary if you are to discern the greater truth of it. Nothing is what it seems on the surface.”
“I am frequently afraid. And angry,” Shen admitted.
“Then stop wrestling with God,” the elderly woman said.
“Who doesn’t wrestle with God?” Shen asked. “If you’re breathing, you’re engaging in a conversation with God… Forgive my tone. I am sorry for being so rude to a people who have invited me into their homes, their hearts.”
“This is reciprocity,” Arne reminded him.
Shen smiled faintly, wiped his tears.
“I like you,” the elderly woman came. “Walk with me.”
The party moved with him.
“No,” the elderly woman said. “Just this man.” She smiled at TL. “I promise, I won’t abuse him. Much.”
“He’s all yours,” TL said.
Shen and TL exchanged a look. Arne laughed.
Her name was Ili, and she was the eldest of the elderly, and a recognized Shamanka. She led him to the Tree. There was a gathering of stones describing a circle, the center of which held a fire pit. The tree itself was huge. Stone steps led up to a door. They entered the tree. She touched amber that was embedded in the wood and her home was suddenly illuminated. Every shade of amber was represented. Deep ruby reds. Yellows. Oranges. Swirls. There was even a green amber stone. There were stairs winding up to another room. This room had the door, two windows to either side of the door, bench seating that went mostly around the room, interrupted only by the stairs, and hearth that was not flame, but a pile of illuminated amber. This room was a mere bubble in the tree. The tree, the room, the amber, was alive- one with the tree.
“Before you ask, the answer is no; no human cut into this tree,” Ili said. “Only a tree spirit can open the heart of a tree to human. This tree called me. When I am gone, it will call another. That has been the way of it for time immoral. Sit, child.”
Shen sat where he was instructed to sit.
“Now, lie down,” Ili said.
Shen frowned, but complied. She sat down by him, lotus pose. He was between the hearth of glowing Amber and her. She leaned into him and laid an ear to his chest. She pushed on his knees.
“Knees down,” Ili said. “Relax. I am not going to rape you.”
“I wasn’t thinking…”
She came up and met his eyes. “I have evidence to the contrary. Or is it an invitation?”
“I was remembering a similar procedure. She kissed me,” Shen said.
“So?”
“It was without warning or asking,” Shen said.
“Asking can change the information received,” Ili said. “I don’t need to taste the flavor of you to sort you.” She put a hand on his chest, near his heart and closed her eyes.
“What are you looking for?” Shen asked.
“Be quiet. You talk too much. Quiet your mind, too, while you’re at it. Better. Just breathe,” Ili said. “Close your eyes. Breathe with me.”
Shen followed her instructions. He relaxed. She rocked his chest. Suddenly, he was standing. He was on a platform at the top of a tree; he supposed it was Ili’s tree. The tree was lit by various glowing insects, some still, some flying. It was like Christmas. The woman with him was young and beautiful.
“Who are you?” Shen asked.
“You don’t recognize me?” she asked. “I am Ili.”
“Wow,” Shen said.
“Oh, so now you’re interested in an old woman’s kiss?” Ili asked.
“You don’t know me,” Shen said.
“Teach me,” Ili said.
“This age, or older, I would be intimate with you,” Shen said.
Ili drew closer. “Really, now,” she said, flirtatious. “I may test this.”
“I would prefer you didn’t,” Shen said.
“Why, you don’t want me to know the truth of it?” Ili asked.
“Do I have to be inside of you before you accept the truth of it?” Shen asked.
“Are you so bold?” Ili asked.
“Are you so accommodating?” Shen asked. “Keep this up, and there will be a point of no return.”
“Keep this up, I will embrace your return,” Ili said.
Shen tried to change the subject. “Where are we?”
“My space. My tree. It is the platform for seeking knowledge and communicating with others,” Ili said. “You clearly have wood. Have you not been so elevated?”
“I don’t have access to this,” Shen said.
Ili pouted, because he didn’t continue the banter. “You were called. I have clarity on that,” Ili said.
“I am not from here,” Shen said.
“I don’t understand your statement,” Ili said.
“I am not from this world,” Shen said.
“Oh! Well, who the fuck is?”
“I don’t understand your statement,” Ili asked.
Ili spoke as if quoting something: “My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. Neither body or soul. I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one. I have put duality away. One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call. Together we know, first, last, outer, inner- only that breath breathing human being.”
TL in his suit provided insight. “That’s Rumi.”
“How do you know Rumi?” Shen asked.
“All is available here,” Ili said. “You were called. You have access.” She went into verse: “Notice how each particle moves. Notice how everyone has just arrived here from a journey. Notice how each wants a different food. Notice how the (night vanishes) as the sun comes up, and how all streams stream toward the ocean.” TL explained: ‘original version was (stars vanish.)’ Ili continued “But that shadow has been serving you! What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle. Your boundaries are your quest. You must have shadow and light source both. Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.”
“I love you,” Shen said, taking a knee.
She drew him up to his feet. “I love you.” She kissed him.
Shen was suddenly back in his body. Ili’s face was hovering frighteningly close, her eyes closed, breathing in as he exhaled. Her hair dangled around his face. He brought his hands up to her face, touching gently, then pushed through her hair, cupped her head, and drew her face to his. Their lips met. The exchange escalated into intimacy, an eagerness growing, but never going further than the other was ready, and when she said, “I am sufficiently wet and wanting. Will you prove?”
“I am hard and wanting. Accept my proof,” Shen said.
“Take me,” Ili said.
Ili and Shen emerged from the tree to find a crowd had gathered. There were people on the perimeter of the circle. Ili took Shen’s arm and led him to the circle where they were accommodated. Some of them were holding babies. Everyone in the circle was tall. The woman next to his left smiled rocking her baby, who was bundled. Arne was to Ili’s left. He was holding his daughter. There were others gathered around the circle, listening. All ages were here, but on the circle was teen age to elder. Several elders seemed angry. Several were amused. Arne was amused.
“Have you lost all sense of protocol?”
“Have you forgotten how old you are?!” were two of the obvious in the chorus of concerns.
“Hold your tongues,” Ili said. It was not harsh, but it carried expectation. “No one here is older than I, and I will hold my own counsel on when, where, and with whom I have sex with.”
Shen blushed. Arne was trying very hard not to laugh. “Why is he blushing?” the daughter asked. The boy beside him, but off the circle, asked: “Why is he wearing pajamas?” A girl behind him said he would understand when he grew up. There was a toddler demanding to be held by the woman next to Shen. She handed Shen the baby she was holding and picked up the toddler.
“Seriously?” Shen asked her.
“Look! Even he realizes he is a stranger here. You give him your baby?!”
“He slept with my grand-mother. That makes him family. His turn,” she said.
TL eased Shen’s confusion. “Apparently they have a custom here that all babies will be carried the first six months of their lives. No babies touch the ground or are cribbed. This may explain why every person here is so damn confident.”
“You don’t even know this man!” the second eldest man in the village protested.
“I do now,” Ili said.
“Oh, so why is he here?”
“Wise Ilker, he is here because I invited him,” Arne said.
“Without asking the counsel?” Ilker said.
“That is true. I took liberty and risk,” Arne said. “I believed the benefits of this friendship worth the risk. My companions agreed. You may ask them their opinions if you like, but I take full responsibility for this guest and his friends. Let me know if he errs, and I will educate him.”
“Doubt you can educate him further than mother already has,” the woman said. He learned from TL this was Aslog, Arne’s wife.
“I will not disagree there,” Arne said.
“This is all fun and games to you!” Ilker said. “Winter is coming. We need food. We need pitch. Your ships brings us the least amount of trade.”
“But my ship has taken us further than any of the isles,” Arne said. “That increases potential for new and better trade.”
“I have yet to see any benefit from knowing the Walking bears,” Ilker said. “The Tamorians we have met would kill us and take our wood. The Climbers are too far by from short to be practical. The Sea people are generous to the sailors, but lazy, and will not tarry on land long enough to grow a garden. They can easily feed their own and guest, but not all of us.”
While they were talking, TL was providing her assessment. All wood is imported. With the exception of the one Sleeper, there were no trees on this island, or the surrounding ones. The flowering part of the heather that grows naturally has medicinal properties, and they seemed to be aware of it. There is evidence there were goats here, but must have been eaten or killed during a hard winter. Fish and kelp supplemented their diets. There is an underground cavern where wheat and rice is stored, as well as other commodities. She predicted if winter last particularly long, they could face starvation. She recommended a distribution of vitamin and vaccination gummies, which would greatly improve the overall health of the island residents.
“If a steady supply of food or pitch is all you want, I can supply all your needs,” Shen offered. He adjusted the baby, making sure the blanket was secured.
“You don’t know our needs.”
“And you don’t know how much I can supply. I am telling you, I have enough to spare,” Shen said.
“That is incredibly generous,” a man name Valence spoke. “And what will this cost us?”
Shen hesitated; he almost said ‘nothing’ but sensed that would lead to increased distrust. TL was surprisingly silent. He didn’t really have needs, but he did have wants. Shen looked to the fire. “Very well. I will tell you my interests. You tell me if I can be accommodated,” Shen said. “I seek knowledge, wisdom, especially old books, lore, technology. I would like a sense of community. I need friends.”
“Your people don’t satisfy your loneliness?”
“My people are ghosts,” Shen said.
That caused a stir. “You mean, like tree spirits?” Ili asked.
“I saw no evidence of ghosts,” Arne said. “I saw evidence of wealth and magic.”
TL, Rock, and Abby arrived at the circle. They stepped over the line and entered the circle so they were visible to all. TL looked to Shen for confirmation, nodded and performed magic. They disappeared, leaving only glowing orbs, floating. They shot up into the trees and disappeared from sight.
“What the hell have you brought into our world?” Ilker demanded. Arne was at a loss for words.
“I did not inform Arne. I am disclosing because I am of the opinion you need to know. Aslog, are you afraid?” Shen asked Aslog. “Do you want your child back now?”
Aslog thought about it. She came to terms with it. “No. Grand-mother has spoken to tree spirits all my life,” Aslog said. “We all speak to tree spirits in our dreams. Why should I fear someone who openly communes with them?”
“I want him and his demon friends gone,” Ilker said.
“I do not,” Ili said.
“You do not get to vote. You are compromised. Your daughter and son-in-law are bias,” Ilker said.
“You’re not invalidating my vote because I fucked someone,” Ili snapped. “Just like you’re not invalidated because you can no longer fuck someone.”
“You are out of line!” Ilker said.
Shen saw TL’s medical assessment of Ilker. “I have a cure for that.” Ilker was embarrassed. People laughed.
“Please, don’t laugh,” Shen said. “Age doesn’t have to be the end of sex. There are medical remedies. I can give you one pill and you will think you are in your twenties. I have a cure for just about everything.”
Another old man said. “I would trade all the gold in my vault to have sex again.”
“You have dust in your vault,” someone argued.
“I would trade that, too,” he said.
“I don’t trust this,” Ilker said. “This is devil plant trickery. He will eat us.”
“I will retreat. I will supply you with sufficient food and pitch to last you through winter, and if your community so chooses, you will never hear from me again,” Shen said. He handed the baby to Ili. “Arne, if you will see me to the gate.”
“You fed my husband and his friends,” Aslog said. “You will not leave until I have fed and sheltered you. There is no negotiating that, I will give sheer hell to anyone who tries to veto that.”
“That is reasonable,” Rehor said.
“Shen, you have brought us a lot to consider and to talk about,” Ili said. “Go, stay with my family. You can return home tomorrow, first light. Give us time to sort this strangeness. If we can alleviate enough fears, then we will consider your generosity.”
Shen sat on the floor next to the hearth. He was given a huge plate of food, more than he could eat, and it was clear he was meant to eat first, before Arne and his family. He wanted to protest and give it back, but that could have been seen as an insult. Arne had food on his plate. He would learn in time, there was an order of service- guest first, children, elderly, those who had contributed to the meal or process, slaves, then the host. Guest would have a meal delivered first, and friend of the guest would also be served. As soon as guest ate the first bite and approved, food would be distributed accordingly. This meal was slightly different, due to being off schedule. The children were given dried fruit for snacks. They used stools for tables while sitting on the floor. Arne’s wife sat next to him, nursing. There were other women in the house. Other men. Children, too. There were lots of questions put forth. There was a Tarmorian present. She had served the food to Arne and Shen.
Torny sat near, holding a child for a friend who needed a break. “Is Loxy a true ghost, or a projection of someone living remotely?”
“She is Bilocated?” Yaffa asked.
“I don’t think this is what we’re experiencing,” Jerica said. She was a light master, and Torny’s triad-friend, maker of the rune a fifth above hers- and she had the gift of Bilocation. Her hair was read. She was slender. Her hair was flame red. There was splattering of freckles as if someone had sloshed excess paint from a brush straight into her face. Shen felt as if he had known in another life, but didn’t place her in time, space, or dream. One eye was green the other blue. It was explained by her that when she pushed a doppelganger, her eyes were both blue, and her origin form held both green- the only distinction between them.
“We have heard grandmother speak of tree spirits for ages, but never seen
anything like that tonight,” Arne said. “Will your friends return?”
“Loxy is always with me,” Shen said.
“Even now?” Torny asked. “Is she hiding?”
TL came out of the shadows. All eyes were wide. She bowed to Aslog. “May I come into the light, and sit near my husband?”
“Of course,” Aslog said.
‘Someone asked, can someone be married to a ghost?’ ‘Can you be married to an idea?’ was the reply.
TL sat next to Shen.
“Do you want food or drink?” this came from the servant girl. Her name was Bao.
“No, thank you,” TL said. “I do hope, Arne, that we have not caused too much trouble. It was right of Shen to share this secret. It has been a burden to him. Ghost is really not the appropriate term for who and what I am, but it’s close enough for now.”
“You must tell us your story on how you came to be together,” Aslog said.
“I am more interested in knowing your relationship with him. You called him husband?” Jerica asked.
“Does it matter? You are free to flirt with him, are you not?” TL said.
“He prefers ghosts, and old people who will be ghost soon enough,” Jerica said.
“He may not see me.”
Shen choked. TL hit his back and freed it. “Thanks,” he managed.
“He sees you,” TL assured her. “He sees everyone.”
“He is your husband, or your slave?” Jerica asked.
“You make a distinction?” TL said.
“Slaves are property, and are protected, coveted. A person with sovereignty has more options in bedding partners,” Jerica said.
“What does your husband say?” TL asked.
“Do you think when he is at sea I must be chaste? Do you think he doesn’t have relations with foreigners abroad?” Jerica asked. “You’re okay with that?” Shen asked.
“Men will do what men do. Women will do what women do. I love my husband, I want him happy. He is always welcomed home,” Jerica said.
“May they always return,” the women said, in chorus.
“Husband and wife means relationship,” Jerica said. “A partnership, sharing wealth. Women govern the property. Children belong to the community. Every milk breast feeds every child.”
“And every adult,” Tane said, toasting air.
“Hell’a better than goat milk, that’s for sure,’ Erico agreed.
“It takes every person, man and woman, to ensure the security of the child,” Arne said. “All people are children. All people deserve to be held, hugged, and accepted with touch, affection. All people, regardless of age, gender, or position, at any time can asked to be held. A person may decline, but only if there is another willing to meet that need. Being intimate with grandmother has raised your esteem with almost everyone here. I bet by morning, the whole island will want to know more.”
“And a lot of old, lonely ladies, will come knocking,” Erico said, getting laughter.
“I will expect you to help me out, brother,” Shen said to Erico. There was laughter as he coughed on his milk. “Are there people that are not open to being generous?”
“Yes. Of course. Most people who have a limited ability to love or to fight, they align themselves with someone they can tolerate,” Arne said. “They usually align themselves with people who would not aggressively pursue affection. Slaves are granted protection from all advances, protected from battling as a form of conflict resolution. Some stewards are better than others, just as some people are nicer than others. Slaves don’t lose their voice. They are welcomed in the light and in the circle.”
“Boa,” Aslog said. “Tell the truth, have you been mistreated?”
“I have not,” Boa said. “I chose this.”
“Why?” Shen asked.
“I do not want to have sex with monsters,” Boa said. “These are the ugliest people I have ever met. They are kind, I perform my duties, but that is it.”
“She came to us a free person,” Arne said. “It was to be an exchange. We would teach her about ship making, she was to teach us to see in the dark.”
“Has she?” Shen asked.
“They are too stupid to learn,” Boa said.
“I learned,” Shen said.
Boa’s eyes narrowed. “You lie,” she said.
“Boa, he is our guest,” Aslog said.
“I will not suffer lies and ignorance…” Boa protested.
“I will teach…” Shen started.
“No!” Boa said. She flipped her script. “They are not on the path. They deviate, allowing men to know script and stones and light magic.”
“You can see in the dark?” Arne asked.
“It is not vision, but an ability of the mind to adapt to acoustical feedback in such a way a map is rendered in the brain,” Shen said.
“You’re a clicker,” Boa said. “That is not True sight.”
“There is also the ability to see with one’s heart,” Shen said. “It is really difficult to learn. It’s difficult to teach. I may not be able to teach that, but it is not an impossible task. Just, difficult.” Shen tried to explain. There are fish that can see electromagnetic radiation. They can find their prey even in the dark. The heartbeat of prey can be discerned like a candle in the night. Just swimming at a speed can create enough of an electromagnetic signal that the sense can be used to detect them. Humans have an electromagnetic sense that is latent, but it is there, just as all animals have it. An adaptation to fight predators who are strong in EM sight is the ability to ‘freeze.’ When prey senses danger their heart stops, they go still, they go dark and silent and the predator passes in the dark. The heart kicks back on and they go quickly about their business. Humans also can experience freeze when threatened. You can’t have this ability to freeze if you don’t also have the sense discernment of EM predation. Human’s sense of smell has decline due to the dominance of sight and hearing. EM sense has also declined due to the dominance of sight and hearing, but also because we are the top of the food chain. In the wild, people have sense when something is sneaking up on them. People have sense when someone is staring at them. People who live in the dark are going to develop Second Sight. The heart is a light that paints everything in its sphere of influence. The echo of that beat paints a map in the brain. To see this, you have to not ‘see’ with your visual center of the brain, and not ‘hear’ with the hearing part of your brain. Even though both these brain regions contribute to Second Sight, either can also turn it off when threshold of signal is met. “Every living cell respond to that heart light all the time. Every living thing receives, reflects, and transmit heart light. There are no dead things. All is light. The heart light is the observer that collapses the field.”
They clearly did not understand everything, but some of it was taken and woven into their paradigm, and some were already trying to push the threshold of their ability to perceive.
“Who taught you?” Boa said.
“L’ma, Holder of Easterly’s light,” Shen said.
“I have never heard of Easterly,” Boa said. “And I doubt seriously my people would teach your kind the path.”
“I am your people,” Shen told her.
“Being born in the land doesn’t make you people,” Boa argued.
“I was borne of a woman as dark as you. As short and arrogant as you,” Shen said, clearly angry.
“That doesn’t make any sense. She must have found you in a basket and told you she gave birth,” Boa said. “Regardless, she would not teach you this sight…”
“She didn’t! They didn’t,” Shen said. “I learned on my own, vicariously, watching. L’Ma, Lanore, Master of Light, born in East Midelay, apprenticed in West Midelay, and raised to Master in Sinter. She is my mother.”
“You cannot be one of us,” Boa said.
“I am not one of you. But I tell you the truth, Lanore gave birth to me, along with a daughter, who resembles you,” Shen said. “I failed to become a part of their system. I lived in the forest more than half of my life now.”
“No one can live in the forest,” Boa said.
“Unless you are friend to the forest,” Arne said.
“Friends with ghosts,” Jerica said.
“I have lived in the forest. I have tamed Irks. I have handled fire snakes. I am immune to the Sleeper Tree spell,” Shen said.
Boa looked to Ar