Journey to Hope-Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Well Water

     Kal dashed through the wood, looking for some sign of the camp clearing. He had been running for a few minutes when he heard far off voices calling,

     “Kal!”

     “Kalmar!”

     “Where are you?” He dimly recognized the voices as Leeli and Sara’s as he called out,

     “Here! I’m coming!” He heard happy gasps, but also a wild, agonized eagle screech that dampened his joy. He rushed through the wood, shouting back and forth with Leeli and Sara to guide him. He quickly approached familiar grounds and was able to make his way without he girls’ shouts. He broke into the small clearing and gazed around him at the scene. The dragons had landed and already had Janner’s body and the packs tied to them. Leeli rushed into Kal’s arms with tears in her eyes as soon as he got to the clearing, looking at him pleadingly with a backward glance at Artham. Oskar and Nia were trying to hold Artham down, to keep him from hurting himself or someone else, and Sara was kneeling next to them. She and Nia were taking turns talking soothingly and yet firmly to him, trying desperately to calm him enough so he could get on the dragon. Artham lay writhing on the leafy floor of the clearing and Nia and Oskar were holding down his arms. His talons were trembling and his muscles were tight and tense. His wings, and hair were soaked with the sweat that shone on his face, bare chest and arms. His eyes were squeezed tight shut as if he was trying not to see some terrible memory, but when he opened them, they were wild and fearful. He was shouting gibberish through gritted teeth, crying out Esben’s and Janner’s names. Occasionally his eagle scream would pierce the air and Leeli would cover her ears. Kal gently took himself out of Leeli’s embrace and walked quickly toward his uncle. Nia, Oskar and Sara were now silent, all their strength spent on holding Artham down. They had stopped trying to talk and reason with him because he was oblivious to their words. Kal knelt beside his mother next to his uncle. Nia glanced at him with a mix of pity and frustration. 

     “I found it,” Kal said after a deep breath. “The Maker led me to the First Well.” Nia looked at him in astonishment.

     “What?” 

     “The Maker led me to the First Well. We need to go. There’s hope for Janner now.” Nia looked longingly in the direction where her son had crashed through the trees and down again to Artham, wincing at his screech.

     “You know there’s nothing I want more than to follow you to that Well, but how can we get Artham there? We certainly can’t leave him behind.” In response, Kal bent over his Uncle and placed a firm hand on his tense shoulder that was heaving from his struggling breaths.

     “Uncle Artham-”

     “N-no…ESBEN!”

     “Uncle Artham,” Kal said more loudly. Artham didn’t respond and continued whimpering and mumbling through clenched teeth but his motions slowed in the slightest, which Kal hoped meant he was listening. 

     “I found the Well. We need to go.” When Kal mentioned the Well, Artham’s eyes flickered open and he gazed at Kal and stopped thrashing for a moment. Then he squeezed his eyes shut again and cried out, as if he was hearing someone or something other than Kal. 

     “Please, Uncle Artham, we need you. Janner needs you,” Kal said as he glanced up at Janner’s skinny frame strapped again to the green dragon.

     “Janner might still have a chance. Please.” Artham’s face stilled for a moment, twisted in guilt and pain, but when he looked up at Kal, his eyes were ever so slightly calmer. The storm inside was stronger than Kal had ever seen it, but Artham was aware of his surroundings. Beneath the churning clouds in his uncle’s eyes Kal could see the words Protect. Protect. Protect. Artham sighed and winced as if someone was screaming at him, but sat up slowly, limbs still shaking. Kal came quickly to his side as Artham staggered wearily to the green dragon. His inner battle had exhausted him completely, but he was summoning all his strength to carry Janner to the Well. 

     “Uncle Artham-wait, you don’t have to-one of us can carry him-”

     “N-no…” Artham was gritting his teeth and raised a taloned hand to his forehead. “I teed no do this…” Throughout the journey into the Blackwood, Kal had seen how Artham was the most sane when he was holding Janner, so he didn’t say anything else other than,

     “Okay, just let us know if you need help.” Artham nodded as he folded his arms around Janner’s blanket wrapped body. He placed a taloned hand on Janner’s head and took a deep breath. His trembling slowed, and his eyes became a little bit clearer. Kal looked deep into his uncle's eyes and saw the fierce affection of a Throne Warden in them. He smiled when he saw this reflection of the Maker’s love in his uncle. He also saw the storm. Artham Wingfeather was fighting a battle against voices and memories that Kal couldn’t even imagine, and Kal saw in Artham’s eyes that he was doing everything he could to push back the feathery beast inside him so that he could help and protect those he loved. 

     “Lead on, Kalmar,” Nia said, pushing her hair out of her eyes, standing as straight and graceful as the queen she was. “Lead us to the Maker’s Well.” Kal smiled at his mother, and at Sara who was standing beside her. 

     I can’t imagine what Janner is going to say when he sees his ‘girl with diamond eyes’ Kal thought, and he let a snicker slide out. He turned away from the girls quickly and turned to look at Artham. He laid a hand in the crook of his arm and said,

     “Let’s go,” Artham smiled shakily and Leeli jumped at Kal and hugged him tight, her earlier tears turning to ones of relief. Oskar rose from where he was sitting on the floor and jiggled over to stand with the company, pulling out his small book.

     “In the words of Janikus Bilburston, ‘let us be off!’” Kal took a deep breath and smiled happily. His hand in Uncle Artham’s arm brushed against Janner’s head, and every touch was another surge of hope that Janner would see him again soon. Leeli, Nia, and Sara were holding hands as they walked, and Leeli looked like she might at any moment burst out singing. Kal almost laughed as he realized how easy it would be to find the Well again. When Kal had been crashing through the woods, the trees and brush had been so thick that he had left a clear trail, so clear that a child could follow it. A whimper escaped Uncle Artham as they walked deeper into the dark wood, and Kal looked up at him with concern. Artham turned away from his nephew's gaze, shaking his head, trying to clear the feathery mist. The company walked for a long time, Kal leading them to retrace his footsteps, Artham bearing the one they hoped to heal. The walk was mostly silent, but the silence was only barely veiling the excitement and hope that was overflowing in the hearts of the people. Leeli and Sara whispered quietly together, Oskar scribbled in his book, and Nia was gazing straight ahead, past her son and brother-in-law, eager to see the Well. Artham grew more and more tense the thicker the trees got. Suddenly, Kal stopped.

     “It’s right around the corner,” he said. Artham glanced wildly around him, as if looking for some way to escape, but he looked down at Janner, took a deep, shaky breath, and followed Kalmar into the clearing. The whole company gasped when the Well was revealed. It was beautiful. Thick, vine wreathed pillars surrounded the Well in a perfect circle. The Water was as still as a mirror and seemed to glow whenever a ray of sunlight pierced through the thick trees. Upon entering the clearing, Artham knelt to the ground and laid Janner down, slowly and gently, next to the Well. After he put Janner down, his head and shoulders sagged in exhaustion, but he stood up again quickly, backing to the edge of the clearing, eyes darting between the sparkling Well, his reddish talons, and the tangled wood beyond him. Sara saw this and took his hand, gently making him come sit beside her. Leeli came to sit on the other side and put her arms around one of his in an embrace as Sara leaned her head on his shoulder. The whole company watched breathlessly to see what Kal would do. Artham stood up and walked to his side, then the whole company followed. First, Kalmar knelt beside his brother’s body. He reached out a hand and carefully began to unwrap the blanket around him. Tears came to the eyes of many in the company when they saw Janner. He was somehow, by the Maker’s good will, the same as he had been the day he died. His face still wore a look of perfect peace, and the scars on his shriveled body adorned him like badges of honor. Kal then looked around quickly for something to fill with the water without letting it touch his hands. He knew that if he accidentally touched more than a few drops, he would grow as big as Nugget had. He found a nutshell as large as his head, lying just beyond the stone circle around the Well. He carried it slowly to the Water and filled it less than half way. He looked up at Artham, who was leaning over his shoulder. 

     “How much should I give him?” he asked. Artham glanced back at Janner, and to the Well again. He reached out his talons to Kal, who gladly gave him the Water. Artham knelt beside Janner. He was careful not to let even the damp part of the nut touch his talons. He reached out his hand and gently opened Janner’s mouth. He lifted the nut over his nephew’s head and the whole company watched in hopeful expectation as he poured a thin stream of the Water from the First Well into Janner Wingfeather’s open mouth.