Chapter VII: Mel’s Journey

A dark-skinned man stood butt naked in front of a tall wardrobe. The large cabinet was flung open and inside contained many assortments of apparel. There were many casual sets of clothing that hung from the wooden hangers, but today he was more interested in selecting one of his finer robes. This human cared about their appearance.

He flipped through several options, and he settled on his blue and tan robes. It came with a hood, but he would pick a hat that matched it instead. There was no way he’d go out looking like a bum this morning, as this day was the day of Ester. He threw the robes over his head, put his hat on, and tucked a wand into his belt. From, there he grabbed a bite from his pantry and walked out his front door.

The crisp fall air filled his lungs with delight, and he nonchalantly cast his hand out at the door behind him. He invoked his magical will upon the door and locked the deadbolt and door handle in one go. There was no way he’d let some kids break in and play with things they knew nothing of.

He turned around and noticed his neighbor was hunched over and pruning their flower garden as per usual. Many of the residences in Hedgeville took great pride in tending to their gardens. All of the neighbors around him had pretty garden beds filled with all sorts of colors, reds, purples, yellows, and the like.

He waves to the nicest neighbor on his street and says, “How’s my favorite neighbor doing this fine morning?! Your garden is looking great.”

The old man stands up, gives him the stink eye, and says, “Mel, your grass is too damn tall! When are you going to cut it?!”

He puts on a fake smile and exclaims, “When lady Estra herself wills it of course!”

The old man shouts and points at him from afar, “I’m going to tell the mayor to fire your ass, you no good lad! Your yard is almost a meter tall, and I’m tired of looking at it!”

The wizard looks away and waves his hand at him and says, “Go for it you old crony. When it rains cats and dogs tomorrow, don’t come blaming me that I didn’t tell you.”

The man grumbled in the distance, and Mel walked off his porch and down the only navigable strip in his yard. The streets were fairly clean and made of compacted earth. However, it typically smelled of horse manure since everyone used this road to move their goods and services. His plan was to walk towards the center of the town to give tribute to his Goddess. As he walked to the temple, many pedestrians looked at him with disdain, yet he smiled and waved all the same. Most of them sat on carts pulled by donkeys, others rode on horses. Yet none of them would disturb his feelings today, as his heart was filled with love for everything around him. It was important to him that he kept his emotions in check, for he believed that his Goddess would know if he had faltered even a little. This was a small town on the frontier, so it only took about ten minutes or so for him to make it to the temple.

There in front of the temple was a man in holy robes of green who greeted all those who entered. He was a blind priest that considered all those who worshipped Estra, the Goddess of earth, to be devoted friends. There were thousands of people in the town, yet only a fraction of them believed in Estra. It would have been foolish to turn away anyone who wished to join their church or learn of their teachings.

He puts both of his hands out in a welcoming fashion and speaks, “Hello! Have you come to pay tribute to Estra on this amazing day? May I ask who is here?”

Mel jumps a little and says, “Oh paster, it’s Mel, and yes I’ve come to pay tribute. I have to admit, you startled me… I always forget how excellent your hearing is.”

“Ah, yes my child, it comes with the illness, yet I never let it affect my spirit. Here’s your cracker”, he then places a small square in Mel’s palms.

He looks into his white eyes and says, “Thank you paster. May I enter now?”

The man nods and speaks once more, “You’re welcome, and yes. No one is in there right now, so you may go in, and I assume you know where to go?”

Mel bows a little and says, “Yes, of course, thank you.”

The building was easily one of the tallest structures around, and the doors alone peek at almost two stories tall. The two frail men pushed just one of the two doors with all their strength until it creaked open. From there only Mel entered, and before him was a massive room. It was lit with countless candles held inside sconces. He slowly walked down the lavish green carpet and passed several pillars. There in front of the altar, he knelt and began to pray to his Goddess. He placed his hat on the floor in front of himself and began to mutter.

“Oh, Goddess of earth, I offer my prayers and this cracker as a symbol of my faith to you. You guide me in the ways of the truth, the only truth. Life is a blessing and for that, all life shall be cherished, as it is given by you. I offer my corporeal being, my magic, and even my spirit to all those who will accept it. With all my heart, I offer those my love, even offering it to those who discriminate upon me, for I believe in you. Estra, Estra, for she wills it”, he then opens his eyes and picks up his hat.

At that moment he felt a bit of magical energy trickle back into his body. He left the cracker on the steps of the altar and proceeded to walk out the same way he came in. The door was slightly ajar, and he managed to squeeze through it. The priest was talking to another group of townsfolk as he exited, and they all shot him dirty looks. His paster was a very holy man, and Mel could never tell if he was oblivious to his situation or flat out ignored it.

He had one more arrangement set for today. There was no way he’d do anything more on his day off. His job as a forecaster was quite tiring at times, and there weren’t many mages in the town, particularly those who specialized in that field of magic. So, off he went to the pigeon post as his last stop before relaxation time.

Unfortunately for him, he needed to traverse through the more sketcher part of town that faced the forest of Dral. There was always the worry of getting mugged here, even for the native residents of the town. Most of the houses around him were shacks at best with no front yards to grow anything. A few of them looked like they’d collapse at any moment, and some looked outright abandoned. They were nothing like the well-built homes on his street which had hardwood floors and clay tiles on the roofs.

At last, he made it to the post, and it looked worse for wear. Birds could be seen coming and going from the building, and the area around it was covered in excrement. He tried his best to avoid stepping in anything with his new boots, but it was inevitable.

*Squish* *Squash*

He groans, “Ah, fuck me. I really hope there’s a letter in here or else I ruined these boots for nothin…”

Before entering the building, he scraped off his boots in front of the double-action doors and walked through. There were wooden crates and birdcages scattered around the main room, and a young boy stood at the counter. The boy’s eyes barely came over the counter, yet he looked the part.

He smiles at him and says, “How can I help you, Caster?”

“Ah, a boy with some etiquette, how nice for a change. You must have a good father”, and he strokes his beard.

He giggles, “Thank you. What’s your name? Are you expecting a letter?”

“The name is Mel, and not really. I just try to come by here once a month or so to check for mail. I had today off so I figured it was as good of a time as ever.”

“Okay, let me take a look here.”

The boy pulled out one crate at a time from underneath the counter. He seemed to know exactly what he was looking for, yet he had gone through several crates of scrolls before he pulled one out addressed to Mel.

“Ah, you have one letter here, and it looks like it was sent in by a raven”, and he hands him the scroll.

He scowls internally at the broken wax seal, “It seems this seal is broken, was there a reason for this?”

The boy looks down and softly says, “My father checks mail from people he doesn’t trust from time to time…”

He just looked at the boy with a blank face and continued to unravel the letter. The handwriting within was very neat, and it was clear to him who wrote it – Margrett. There were feelings of jealousy within his heart. She was beautiful to him, and his cousin nabbed her before he could when they were growing up. Jealously was not a virtue of Estra, so he quickly stomped that feeling out. His eye started to run left to right, and the letter contained:

Dear Mel, this is Margrett. I know you came by with our winter supplies a month ago, but something has happened, and we need you to move here with us until spring. We know this is a big request, but whatever your concerns are we plan to make it right. Me and Alakar are in a bit of a tight spot right now and hope you can make it here as soon as possible. Please, bring whatever you need for a few months. Sincerely, Margrett E. Mosswald.

Mel gasps, “What in the world did they get into? Oh, cousin…”

“Sorry?”, says the boy.

He scratches his thinning hair and says, “Boy, I need you to write a letter to the mayor… Tell him that I won’t be in town for the winter, and he’s gonna have to find another Caster to help with the reaping this year.”

“Uh, okay, I’ll do that right now. But the mayor is known for not reading the letters that are sent from here though…”

“I don’t care, that fat oaf can only blame himself for not reading my letters. Good luck finding some other sad sob to come out here and work for you. Wait…, don’t write that…”

He chuckles, “Caster, I know you only jest, and I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good, good boy, now I must take my leave as you know.”

He tipped his pointy hat at him and walked out through the half doors. There was a lot of work to be done all of sudden on his day off. He would need to rent a horse and a large cart to haul what he needed. With the money he had, it wouldn’t be possible to hire any sort of retainer to help him. This wouldn’t be a simple trip for anyone, as he needed to head into the forest of Dral. The journey would take roughly a week because there were no roads out there, and only madmen like his cousin would stake their life to make a living out in the woods. It would take him the whole day just to load up his wagon and shop for the needed supplies, yet he managed to do so before night fell.

As he hailed the guards at the grimmest gate in the town, they all smiled at him. The number of supplies piled high out of the cart, and it was self-evident that he was leaving town for good, or at least a long while. The guards of this town never smiled at him like that, quite the opposite in fact. They were likely fantasizing about him getting murdered in the sticks or at least glad to see him leave town.

The large wooden gates opened, and a cart driven by a wizard soon disappeared along the shoddy road and over the horizon.