TRACK 12 –

MOON FLOWER

I accessed the monolith and a menu appeared.

JICARILLA STONE TABLEAU OF EARTH

I selected the last option and merged my consciousness with the monolith. The only magic element I had was Fire. All of The People had received it when Law became War Shaman. Even though my class, Fiancé, gave me the same abilities as my betrothed it didn’t impart his magical powers. These had to be earned on my own.

The goddess Brigitte had pulled me aside and told me about this during our foray into the realm of the gods. She had said I needed to connect with the monolith to increase my magical power. As soon as she told me I realized I had known it already on a spiritual level and instinctively knew what to do.

I sat down with my legs crossed and focused on the Earth Magic that surrounded me. My mind drifted back to the time not so long ago when Law taught me how to use Fire Magic. All of The People had the ability to use magic but the know how to access it had been lost before The Great Suffering. Law had rekindled that spark and retaught us how to use our gifts.

I used that memory and experience to connect my consciousness with that of the monolith. The connection was made and my mind expanded going out of my body and into the surrounding cavern. I became one with every inch of rock in that room, then onward into the earth below and around us. It was as if my consciousness was one with the Spirit of the Earth.

Every grain of sand, pebble, rock, boulder, it was as if I was each of them and none. I could sense everything going on around me but not like a human, not like a person. It was bigger than that, it was enormous, so large my mind couldn’t quite comprehend it. Law had tried to explain the concept of Gaia to me one time and I never quite understood what he was trying to convey. He talked about all of the world and all the beings in it shared one consciousness, the zeitgeist he had termed it.

Now I understood, now I knew what he meant. It was one of those things that no matter what or how someone tells or describes to you the only way to understand is to experience it. And experience I did. I was a grain of sand, then I was a pebble in a rushing stream. Next, I was a boulder on the side of a cliff face with the wind rushing around me. My sense of self was gone, I was no one and yet I was nothing. I was everything, I was more than just a being, I was the world.

Wonder, amazement, and joy resounded in me as I became one and time was irrelevant, things just were. I could have stayed there forever, my sense of self gone and one with the Earth, it was so close, that feeling almost took me and I almost gave in. Almost… At the last second my memories hit me, memories of my friends, family, of joys and sorrows, of my father, of Law.

I remembered the first time I saw him. I was fleeing from a pack of dire wolves and just as I burst out of the tree line and into a clearing and there he was. If I hadn’t been so scared and running for my life I would have appreciated the sight more. A giant of a man astride a beast of legend and not only that but with a massive animal the likes of which I’d never seen.

The memory brought me back to myself. I blinked my eyes open and was back inside the cavern and with the monument. My body glowed softly with a familiar light yellow light that I recognized from seeing it on the Jicarilla. I looked around and grinned at the magical energy that filled me. A blinking appeared in my periphery and I pulled up the message.

EARTH MAGIC LEARNED…

SKILL LEARNED…

A smile blossomed across my face as I closed the windows and stood up stretching languidly. I had been sitting there for quite a while, almost three hours, and my body was tight. After I stretched I ended my connection with the monolith and left the room in search of something to eat and bath. The smell I started to notice was my own, considering I hadn’t cleaned myself up after arriving from the road.

About an hour later after scrubbing the dirt and road from my tired body I was sitting in the room Law and I shared in the Fortress of Earth. A large portion of some type of meat and vegetable stew with some fresh maize bread had been delivered and I was eating while going over my new magical ability. I was still amazed by my ability to access these magical information screens and had promised myself that I would familiarize myself with them when I had time. Now I had the time and was making good on that promise, especially since I was leaving on my mission in the morning.

Speaking of that, I was also partitioning my mind and one part was studying the map and planning Winston and my route. This would be the first foray south past the Jicarilla lands and into territory that was unknown. The whole area was grey on my map and only the information we had was what Law remembered from his past, future, whatever, and what the Aztec prisoners told us. That gave me a decent map down to the Aztec empire but that wasn’t my destination. I was going to an area known as the Grand Canyon.

It wasn’t unknown to The People or the Jicarilla, both tribes had legends of a great rent in the Earth that stretched almost further than the eye could see. Tales of flying monsters of all types go along with the legends. I always thought they were stories to scare children, but Law assured me that wasn’t the case and it really existed. He wasn’t sure about the monsters, but he reasoned since the other legendary monsters had returned they were probably there as well.

The legendary monsters weren’t the reason I was going though. It was to meet with the Thunderbird tribe that lived there. The Thunderbird tribe actually consisted of a few different tribes that had a loose affiliation since they all shared the Thunderbird totem. Law had explained this to me and it seemed to make sense. He said that many of the tribes would form alliances later on to fight the invaders. Unfortunately for them, it was too little too late.

The Thunderbird tribes were the Kawaiisu, Paiute, Serrano, Chemehuevi, Walapai, and Havasupai. About a dozen more smaller tribes were part of the alliance but these were the main ones. I memorized the locations of each tribe as I traced the route we would take then looked south, to the Aztecs and the invaders. The Sun God had told us that there were stronger foes then him and that they would be coming for us.

The Fortress of Earth was our bastion to the south and we were sure that it would stand up against any force that came against it. Beyond that though, since we hadn’t been attacked yet the plan was to take the fight to them and expand our territory and powerbase. The Thunderbird tribe was a big part of that plan. The gods and goddesses had explained it all to us when we were in their realm.

The Thunderbird tribe were also the masters of Air Magic and I was to bring them into The People and then master Air Magic. After that, we’d all head south and attack the Aztecs. Easy as pie, as Law would say. He would also say, what could go wrong? But I wasn’t going to be that naïve. I knew a lot could go wrong. Instead, I finished my last bite of stew and ate the last of the bread and said a mental goodnight to Winston and turned in for the night.

I woke up early the next morning before the sun was up and got down to business. The first stop was the baths to do my morning ablutions and then to the cooking area for some breakfast. They kept the cook fires going day and night. After that, I headed down to the new forge area and met with the head Magesmith.

After the foray into the God’s Realm all the monoliths that any of The People discovered were now connected and shared information. That meant that the resident head Magesmith, Cutting Bullfrog, was able to create any of the items that Law or any other Magesmith invented. Every weapon, type of armor, sundry, or whatever had its pattern saved to the monolith system. Shakaru and Coyote had explained it all to us but only Law seemed to understand it. The rest of us just nodded and chalked it up to the god’s and goddess’s magic. Law was really big on how things worked. I and most of The People were really big on as long as it works we didn’t care how.

I entered the forge area which was deep in the bowels of the Fortress of Earth. It was next to a natural inlet that formed up under the fortress due to the Colorado River that passed underneath. Before I even left the stairwell I could smell the burning metals, woods, and other materials. I could also hear the almost contiguous pounding of multiple hammers banging on the various projects. I paused and looked around the forge from the entranceway and then found the head Magesmith. Cutting Bullfrog was in the center of the area using the main forge which was the largest of them all. It was at least three times the size of any of the others which were being worked by the man’s subordinates.

None of the smiths paid me any attention and I took my time heading to Cutting Bullfrog while perusing their current projects. The first smith I came to was busy infusing Earth magic into a set of plate armor. Currently, he was working on an ornate breastplate that glowed with the familiar yellow light. I nodded at the girl’s work and moved on. The next smith was knocking out different tools with a speed that was impressive. Hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, and other much needed items were piling up next to him.

I shook my head and went to the next smith who was working on something I didn’t quite recognize. It was a small box maybe two feet by three feet and had all different kinds of wires and things going every which way, though none were loose. I was staring at it intensely when a voice called out to me.

“Yep, that’s the new radio that Law invented. It’s pretty amazing. It will let us talk to the other forts and towns in our control when it’s done. As a matter of fact…” Cutting Bullfrog’s voice trailed off, as he walked over and bent down next to the other smith.

The head Magesmith gestured fort he other smith to give him some room and he did bowing his head as he left. Then Cutting Bullfrog activated his Earth and Fire Magic and placed both hands on each side of the radio. The magical energy flowed into the device until it was glowing brightly with the red and yellow magical power. Then Cutting Bullfrog cut the magical feed then stood up stretching and nodding to himself in satisfaction of a job well done.

“Let’s get this to the new radio room. Moon Flower do you want to come test the device with us?” Cutting Bullfrog said, while gesturing to the other smiths in the room.

The other smiths stopped what they were doing and began following Cutting Bullfrog’s orders. Two of them picked up the radio and walked it out of the room followed by the other smiths each carrying something different for the radio I assumed. I watched them go and then saw Cutting Bullfrog giving me a raised questioning eyebrow.

“Of course, I’d love to.” I replied, nodding to the man and following after him and the other smiths.

Cutting Bullfrog and I made small talk as we walked up through the fortress and to the new room. Every once in a while the head smith called out for the apprentices to be careful until a few minutes later we entered a newly constructed room at the top of the fortress. The room itself wasn’t that special a ten by ten foot stone structure with a wooden door that was propped open. There were windows on each side that were half the size of each wall. What was interesting however, was the huge obelisk that sat atop the newly built structure.

The obelisk was at least thirty feel high and looked to be made from different precious metals and jewels. It was larger at the bottom about five feet by five feet and square but tapered as you got closer to the top which ended in a pyramidal point. Law had told me about something from the future called the Eiffel Tower and I imagined this is what it looked like. Although, the one my fiancé described was almost a thousand feet tall to which I figured he was exaggerating.

“Pretty amazing right?” Cutting Bullfrog asked, from my side.

“What is it exactly?” I replied, still studying the structure.

“It’s called an antennae and is what allows us to project and receive radio signals from great distances. At least, that’s how I understand it. Anyway, it’s ready to go, do you want to head inside?” He asked.

I nodded and followed him in the room. It was just as bright inside as it was outside due to the large windows and bright sunshine gave the room a cheerful appearance. The only things inside were a large oaken table in the center of the room on top of which sat the newly created radio. Around it were five chairs, one for each of the smiths and Cutting Bullfrog. To which he gestured for me to sit at when we entered the room. I did as he suggested joining the others who had already sat down.

Cutting Bullfrog went up to the table and made some adjustments here and there then connected some more doodads before he was done. When he was he nodded to another smith who saluted and began to fiddle with the radio for a moment then gave Cutting Bullfrog a thumbs up. The head Magesmith nodded and grabbed a small cone like metal object that was connected to the radio with a long metal wire. He held it up to his mouth while pushing a button on the contraption before speaking into the metal cone.

“Cunning Wolf, this is Cutting Bullfrog. Over.” He said.

I gave him a look and a raised eyebrow to which he gave me a wait a second motion. I did so albeit skeptically as he called into the metal cone, which I later found out was called a microphone, again.

“Cunning Wolf, this is Cutting Bullfrog. Over.” He said.

Another few moments went by and I was about to say something to the Magesmith then some type of grating sound came from the radio, followed by a voice.

“Cutting Bullfrog, this is Cunning Wolf, good to hear your voice son, go ahead. Over.” Cunning Wolf’s voice sounded out from the radio.

“Cunning Wolf, same here dad. We wanted to let you know we are up and running with the radio as you can hear. Not only that, Moon Flower has arrived at the Fortress of Earth. Over.” He replied.

I hadn’t known that Cunning Wolf was Cutting Bullfrog’s dad but it made sense the two looked alike and sounded alike. I shook my head and refocused as Cutting Bullfrog aske me a question.

“What was that again?” I asked him, a little chagrined that I hadn’t heard him the first time.

“I said do you want to ask them any questions?” He repeated.

“Oh, yes, yes I do.” I replied, as he handed me the microphone to which I looked at a bit nonplussed.

Cutting Bullfrog took a moment and mimed putting it to his mouth and speaking. I nodded and did as he instructed.

“Hello Cunning Wolf, it’s good to hear your voice!” I said into the microphone, a bit skeptically.

“Moon Flower, it’s good to hear your voice as well. Although, I take it you haven’t learned the radio etiquette yet. Over.” Cunning Wolf said, his voice trailing off in a chuckle.

I gave Cutting Bullfrog a questioning look and he tapped his temple. I looked at him a little confused before I noticed the light barely flashing in periphery and accessed the message.

RADIO INFORMATION…

RADIO ETIQUETTE INFORMATION…

“Moon Flower, are you there? Over.” Cunning Wolf asked a minute later.

I closed the messages, gave a thumbs up to Cutting Bullfrog, and held the microphone back up to my mouth now knowing the proper radio etiquette.

“Cunning Wolf, this is Moon Flower sorry about that I just accessed the message. Over.” I said.

“Moon Flower, no problem my dear. How are things going on your end? And how is War Shaman Law doing? I bet you were glad to see him. Over.” He said.

“Cunning Wolf, this are going well here but I haven’t see my fiancé. Over.” I replied, sharing a confused look with Cutting Bullfrog who shook his head in the negative.

The radio was silent for a minute and I was about to say something again thinking maybe Cunning Wolf hadn’t heard me.

“Moon Flower, are you sure? Law was supposed to be there a few days ago. Over.” He asked again, worry now in his tone.

I looked questioningly at Cutting Bullfrog again and he shook his head in the negative again, a frown now creasing his bronzed face.

“Cunning Wolf, why don’t you start at the beginning. Over.” I said, now worried about the whereabouts of my fiancé as well while I listened to Cunning Wolf’s story.