Book 3: Chapter 20: A Dangerous Affinity
When Victor rode into the Shadeni winter camp, he was greeted by the watching hunters, and before he could get Thistle brushed down and fed, Thayla, Deyni, and Chandri found him, smothering him with hugs and questions. “What happened to your face?” Thayla asked, touching the long, still-pink scars from the bear’s claws.
“I . . .” he began, but then Chandri interrupted.
“Lifedrinker looks different!” She said, reaching out to touch the silver-streaked axehead.
“Victor, can you teach me to ride Starlight now that you’re back?” Deyni asked at the same time, reaching to grab hold of his hand, wrapping her little fist around two of his fingers.
“I . . .” he began again, but then Tellen rounded the corner of the lodge near which Victor’s wagon was staked.
“Victor, welcome back! Ahh! A new battle scar, I see!” He strode forward to clap Victor on the shoulder, and Victor could only look at the little crowd and laugh.
“It’s great to be back and see your faces! I missed you guys!” He laughed again, pulling Thayla, Chandri, and even little Deyni into a hug, squishing them together against his chest. “Yeah,” he said over the tops of their heads to Tellen, “the bear got me pretty good.”
“Oof,” Thayla said, trying to push him away, “I can’t breathe!”
“Yes, you can, mommy,” Deyni laughed, squeezing Victor around one leg.
“All right, all right,” Victor said, letting go of them all, though he really had savored their closeness. “Let me finish with Thistle, then I’ll meet you guys in the longhouse. I’ll tell you everything!”
They agreed and started back around the side of the longhouse, but Chandri lingered behind. “The scars don’t look bad—I’m sure some hunters would love to copy them if they could get away with it! You really fought a mad spinebear? Oynalla told us that much . . .”
“Yeah,” Victor said, still brushing Thistle. “I did, and I wasn’t really smart about it. Luck was on my side, though, and I learned a lot about myself in the process. Well, the old bear spirit helped me with that part.”
“Old bear spirit?”
“You’re really going to make me tell this story twice?” Victor laughed, leading Thistle further out, near Starlight, so he could graze some of the late fall grass. It wasn’t as blue-green as it had been when Victor first came to the plains, but it wasn’t dried and yellow, just shorter and paler. Tellen had told him that the plains grass never really went dormant unless it had a thick blanket of snow on top.
“Well, I feel like I won’t be heard among all the others shouting questions at you.” She followed him out onto the grass, lingering close.
“How about you? I heard you all went on a hunt. Did Deyni get anything?”
“She learned to track! We brought home a dozen feyris.”
“Damn! So fast?” Victor almost automatically reached down to take her hand as they walked back toward the longhouse, and that’s when he felt the first nagging bite of guilt in the pit of his stomach. He paused and took a deep breath, thinking about his words, and then said, “Hey, Chandri, we haven’t spoken about this, really, in a while, but we’re good, right?”The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.
“We’re good?”
“I mean, what we have. We’re, well, happy? I mean, yeah, we’re into each other, but we both know nothing much is going to happen right now. Maybe someday, though, right?”
“Well . . .” her face had grown severe, and Victor could see he’d caught her off guard.
“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I’m a guy who needs some clarity, okay?”
“Well, I never put it in so many words, but I guess you’re right. Is that fine with you? Are you mad?”
“No! Shit, no, Chandri. How could I be mad? Everyone knows I’m leaving, so why would you want me to, you know,” he gestured around the camp to the various longhouses in view, “scare off all the competition? I mean, if I was with you officially, you’d never have another guy come near you!” He laughed at her outraged face. “I’m teasing, I’m teasing!” He kept laughing as she chased him to the longhouse.
Victor knew, in his heart, that he’d taken a chicken-shit way out of dealing with his feelings for Chandri. He’d gotten her to confirm that they weren’t anything yet, that they might be someday, and then he’d turned it into a joke. Still, she was happy and laughing, and what else really mattered?
That night, they sat in the main hall of the longhouse, and Victor told his tale to more than two dozen of the clan members, including Oynalla, who came up to join them by the fire. The storytelling had become a kind of celebratory feast. The hunters cracked open several casks of cheb-cheb and passed around platters of smoked meats and roasted root vegetables glazed with tallow and heavily seasoned.
Victor had never really considered himself an outgoing person, but he found himself enjoying all the attention and told the tale with little embellishment—none was really needed. He described his fasting, the spirit realm, the great bear, and his quest. Then he told the tale of how he rode out on Thistle, searching for the bear, found the ruined village, met Teil and Gef, and encountered the strange tracks of his friends being chased by trolls.
“But we never went into the forest!” Deyni interrupted.
“I know, munchkin,” Victor said. “The spirits were testing me!” Then he went on to explain his encounter with the trolls and how the curse started to affect him. Oynalla watched him the whole while he spoke, never interrupting, not even to erupt into one of her trademark cackles. When Victor finished describing how he’d killed the bear and destroyed the necklace of teeth, Oynalla still didn’t comment, and her silence was beginning to unnerve him.
Victor paused to sit back down and take a bite of meat, chasing it with a long pull of liquor, and Oynalla finally cleared her throat. Everyone paused their side conversations and laughter to look her way, and she said, “Aren’t you going to tell us about your reward, warrior?”
“Well, I suppose,” Victor said, though his stomach had knotted up at the mention. “I mean, I had to do another spirit walk, and the bear, well, he helped me to improve my Core, finding another affinity. I can tell you more later, Oynalla. I think it’s boring stuff to most everyone else.”
“No, it isn’t!” Chandri said, and ten people echoed her sentiment.
“What affinities do you have, Victor?” One of Tellen’s hunters asked, demonstrating that his Core and abilities weren’t as common knowledge as it often felt to Victor. Oynalla, for the first time, cackled, and Victor could see she’d been wanting to ambush him with this.
“All right,” he said, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. “I’ll be honest, my first instinct is to avoid talking about this, to play things off like nothing much happened, but that’s one of the things I’m learning about myself—I often react out of fear. I think I . . .”
“No, you don’t, Victor!” Thayla interjected. “You’re the bravest man I know!”
“True!” Tellen said, and Chandri banged her mug on the table in agreement. All of Tellen’s hunting band were present, and they, too, took up their mugs in objection, crashing them against the long table.
“Wait, wait!” Victor said, holding up his hands. “Let me explain!” He paused, waiting for people to be quiet, and then he looked into Oynalla’s shrewd eyes and said, “I didn’t say I wasn’t brave, but it’s true—the bear helped me see it—I do often act out of fear. Listen!” Again he had to wait, and then he picked one of the older women who often gave Victor baked goods to sample and asked, “Letha, can I ask you a question?”
“Good morning, warrior,” Oynalla said, never one to be fooled by feigned sleep. “Thayla, take your daughter out and practice summoning your orb. I want Deyni to try to feel the difference between your spirit Energy and the air-attuned Energy on the winter wind.”
“Can we ride Starlight later, Victor?” Deyni asked as Thayla stood up.
“If he’s not busy,” Thayla said, trying to rescue him.
“I’ll be very upset if we can’t, Deyni. I’ve been looking forward to it all night!” Victor said. “Will you give her a good scratch for me while you’re out there?”
“Yes!”
“Come on, then,” Thayla said, shaking her head ruefully. “See you later, Victor.”
“Yep. See you.” Victor watched them leave, then turned to the Old Mother and shrugged. “All right, let’s have it.”
“Have it?”
“Sure. I imagine you’re about to chew me out about something. My affinity, my . . . behavior regarding Chandri.”
“Oh, hush, warrior. You did fine last night. Chandri rescued you, but you chose your words correctly.”
“Really?”
“Yes, forgive me for spying, but I’m a nosy old woman, and my little friend made it too easy.”
“Your little friend?”
“Yes, I made a new friend since we returned to camp. Tsst, tsst,” she said, clicking her tongue and holding her hand toward a pile of furs near the wall. A moment later, a whiskered snout poked out from under a shaggy hide, and a long, white-furred, ferret-type animal slinked out and coiled itself around Oynalla’s wrist. She lifted the creature and hugged it to her bosom, smiling in a genuine and vulnerable way Victor rarely saw from her.
“You spied on me with him?” Victor asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Of course. How else do you think I know so much about what goes on around here? Oh sure, I spy with my spirit, and I have auguries, but little friends like this are the most useful for finding out what’s bothering the clan.”
“I’ve never heard of a spy being so open about their nosiness,” Victor laughed, shaking his head.
“I have good intentions, though. Like making sure a certain warrior doesn’t harbor any fears or regrets, poisoning his spirit and embracing the darker natures of his affinities.”
“Right.”
“Now, come here, warrior. Put your hands in mine, and let’s have a look at your Core. Let’s see what that great old bear has done to you.” She held hands out, palms up, and their smooth red flesh belied her age. Victor scooted closer and gently took them, careful not to squeeze too hard with his calloused, rough fingers. “Good, now look at your Core and let my Energy in; let it trickle through your pathways. You can trust me, warrior.”
“I know,” Victor said, following her instructions. He turned his gaze inward, studying the three orbs of his affinities, and when he felt Oynalla’s warm, thin stream of Energy begin to explore his pathways through his hands, he didn’t resist it. Instead, he reached out with his will and pulled on it, guiding her deep into his Core, and she inhaled deeply through her nose.
“Such heat,” she breathed. “I could lose myself in the blaze of your rage, but . . . aha, there it is, oh, Victor, you’re lucky! The fear is balanced by your inspiration, though it’s so strong! Never cultivate it more than your other affinities, Victor. Keep it in balance like you’ve done. Use it only against those you despise, those you wish to see harmed—no matter how much you might be tempted to sway an argument or drive home a point.”
“Yeah, I appreciate the warning, but I don’t think I would use my fear affinity like that.”
“Good, because that’s how it always begins, spirit affinities are beguiling, and without control, they can start to influence the caster's mind. You’ve done well to improve your will so much and gained great control of your rage. Rage is a tricky one because it’s not always negative, do you see? Fear, though, fear is a hard one to master, a dangerous affinity, and you must remain vigilant—never let it control you. Tell me, how have you used your fear affinity?”
“I’ve only used it once—when I was fighting the corruption beneath a great tree, I projected it to make some monstrous worm-things let go of the tree’s roots and run away.”
“Can you imagine the effect of such a working on a crowd of people? What if you were more subtle, only sending out a light, wispy wave, restraining that flood of mighty Energy at your Core? Do you see how it could ruin a population over time?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Oynalla, I’m not going to do something like that.”
“Good, warrior. Be wary upon your next class refinement, please. Don’t let your new affinity define you too much.”
“I will. I promise!” he added as he saw that concern in her eyes.
“Good, then let’s talk about some new uses for your combination of affinities.”
Victor leaned forward, “All right! That’s what I was hoping for . . .”
“Victor?” Thayla poked her head back into the room, interrupting his sentence.
“Has his visitor arrived?” Oynalla asked, surprising Victor.
“Visitor?”
“Aye, I saw a woman, an Ardeni with green features, speaking to you outside the longhouse.” She saw the confusion on Victor’s and Thayla’s faces and added, “In a dream I had last week.”
“Oh,” Thayla said, her eyes squinting in surprise as she looked from Victor to Oynalla, “Yes, that’s what I was about to say. She came riding a great cat! I’ve never seen a mount like it! Victor, she says she works for Rellia and wants to speak with you.”
“Oh, jeez,” Victor said, standing up with a sigh as his knees popped. “I’m sorry, Oynalla. Can we speak more about this later?”
“Perhaps. I think you’ll be rather busy soon, but Oynalla will be here when you’re ready.” She laughed softly at first but then more of her usual cackle. “We can always speak more on the Spirit Plane, warrior. Go now; she’s not a patient one.”
