Elevation of Mana Chapter 18 While the Elder's Away...

As Elaya prepped to leave most of the village met. She didn't travel much, nobody really did, so it was a huge occasion. Well wishes were given and the gear of the party going out checked and refreshed by everyone. There were also a few cheeky requests to bring things back from the big city.

Larus and mother were called forward, but I didn't know why.

"You two are in charge until I return, keep the people safe," Elaya declared almost ceremonially.

"I shall see to it that the hunters are protected," dad's friend said.

"No harm shall come to the women or children," mother answered.

"Huh?" I said, confused.

Father was staying back for the moment with me. "It is traditional for the elder of a village to leave it in the care of two of those with light when they must leave. Elaya has chosen your mother and Larus, which she almost always does."

I knew Larus only a little. He and dad were always together, and while I spent more time with mother and auntie Atie, even I noticed.

"Why not you?" I asked dad.

"Not a good idea to have both from the same home. If they agree on something others don't like there would be arguments of favoritism. Your mother's the only real option for the women, and there are only three men in town with enough light for it to fall on them. Since I'm far too close to her, it must be him."

"Not me either," I said.

Dad laughed. "No, you're too close too, but even if you weren't you're also too young son. You would only be picked to look after the village if there were no other options, and that would be a desperate time indeed to have one so young put in charge."

"What if there wasn't someone?" I asked.

"Hmm, that would be bad. Few villages are that small though, and even in the worst case would only have one to look after them while their elder is away. There must always be someone who can use their light, it is too valuable."

I could keep asking, probing why the others weren't considered, even though they could utilize magic, but I didn't need to. This world was dangerous, and the best thing to fight against that danger was the power we wielded. There were no guns or weapons that could fight against something like that bear we'd all gone against. Not that I was that sure that a gun would have been enough on it's own.

It was clear within a day or two that the men were staying near the gathering spots, regardless of the hunting there. There was a charge in the air, not panic, but caution. Our elder was gone, and everyone was feeling it keenly. The hunters didn't want to stray far, and many found excuses to work on their crafts near the women and children instead.

While this meant that the amount of meat available to us shrank significantly, it also meant that we boys got to spend more time with our fathers during the day, something everyone seemed keen on. It gave me a lot of chances to ask questions I'd never gotten answers to and practice magic at the same time. I wasn't being forced to go sit around with the girls, and dad knew quite a bit about making things with magic, even if his was very different from mine.

"Have you ever been to Atal?" I asked.

"Yes, though not in a long time. I even met Atal once," he said.

"Isn't it a place?" I sought clarification.

"Atal is the elder of Atal, which is the biggest settlement around here."

"How big?"

"Well son, Atal is big enough that if each villager of our village were a village like ours, we'd be around the same size," he said after thinking a bit.

"And the elder?" I questioned.

"Is very old. He was very old even when Elaya was born. There are others like him, far away in their own villages, but they seldom meet, and are all very powerful. When you get old like that you get strong, even if your light wasn't when you were little." At my confusion he continued. "Most villagers don't live as long as Elaya has, but those who do always develop a light, even a small one, that they can use like you or me. Of course those with a bright light already are more likely to survive that long, and we do grow, slowly, over time."

"So if you grow for many, many years, like being old when Elaya was little, you'll be strong?"

"Yes," he said.

"Are the other old elders nice?" I asked.

"They fight sometimes, but not often. None have fought for my lifetime, or even our elder's."

"Okay." I waited a few minutes before asking another question, but I had it ready. "Why did you go to Atal?"

"I was a traveling merchant," he said. "I went from place to place and traded things, some things I made, some I got other places. When I met your mother though, I wanted to stay."

"Oh, I see, so you're not from our village?" I asked.

"No, Larus and I were both from another, about two days away. He was my friend there, and when I'd heard he'd moved here I decided to come out this way. Not many traders care to come this far way."

"Are we far from Atal?"  I asked.

"Depends on how fast you are."  My father was technically correct, Larus would surely be faster than I would.

There were no maps as such, nor even good directions for the most part.  People knew general directions, and landmarks, and where villages and the like were, but we just weren't there technologically.  That was something I might be able to work on later, but for now there was little I could do.

I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried, meld stone like my dad could.  That said, he couldn't make a lathe like I could, and seemed to really like the idea when I showed it to him.  I knew some of the many things that you could make with such a tool, even if I wasn't any kind of woodworker in my previous life, and I could see the gears ticking behind his eyes.

"I have a few ideas Elian, would you mind helping me with them?"  He chuckled under his breath as he looked at a small decorated stick I'd made.

He liked the idea of spears a lot, and between us we could make a really good one.  My shafts were to exacting standards that would take him far, far more work than it took me, and he provided the best flint heads for them he could.  I'd really like to make a bow, as that would be a big step forward in the way of things, but I honestly didn't know how.  I knew enough to know that making a bow like that would be very difficult, and failure could result in bad injury though, and that stopped me, for now.

The whole situation went on for a few weeks.  While Elaya was gone, and certainly missed, I still got to spend time with dad, so I didn't miss much.  He and I made spears, him walking me through each and every step.  He also looked on as I used my magic to fish.  Everyone was happy about the latter, because when I really let loose with it, I could bring in lots and lots of fish every day.

Larus also came by one day while all the boys were playing to talk to us.

"Hi boys, how are things?"  He asked, looking us over.

"Pretty good sir, something happening?"  The tone Ninden used indicated his respect.

"Nothing much, but I know you boys heard the rumors about a cold season."  There were nods all around at that, it was the talk of the village.  "We had one when I was young you know, and do you believe that the boys were a huge help?"  He smiled at us all, leaning down to tell his story.

We were regaled with tales of how the young lads of the town had spent day after day putting up traps.  Many of the big animals either hibernated or died, and some became very hard to catch, but the little ones, the little ones could still be gotten.  This wasn't something vital as I understood it, but rather him trying to prep us for what might come.

"Show me the traps you boys know, and where around here you'd put them," he said.

So we did, we displayed all our tips and tricks shown to us by the various men in town, and at each one he smiled.  He knew that for us, this had been mostly playing and practice, but we'd done well regardless.

"Good, good, but look here boys, look at the grass."  He pointed to a spot we'd all missed, where something had moved through the little field.  It was subtle, but it was there.  "As for traps... the ones you've got will work well, but make sure to practice making them, the trigger is the most important part, so make sure it's right."

He showed us the triggers again, and then pointed out on our own where each would have issues.  We drank it in, this wasn't him being mean, but rather making sure that we had what we needed to do what we must.  The whole time he laughed and smiled, and I couldn't help but watch all the keep eyes on him from around the field.  How he was single to this day I couldn't figure out.

When Elaya finally returned she looked exhausted.  She, and two other elves who'd agreed to travel with her, arrived late in the evening, all were frowning, all unhappy at what they'd learned.

"Gather everyone," she said.  "We have much to discuss."