The Way of the Beast

***

  Stenhelt and Chohla began making their way down the rough grade toward the forest. Before they reached the trees, Sten turned around to see where they'd come from. The cave entrance, all but hidden on the craggy slope, was set low into the side of a stunted mountain. Behind it to the east was another peak, slightly taller and just as barren. Sten studied the view to memorize it before moving on.

  The trek through the forest was slowed by uneven ground and patches of thick undergrowth. Nonetheless, the two travelers found the water well before sunset. The stream was wider and deeper than expected, although there was a series of drop-offs and low waterfalls nearby that suggested good fishing spots. After setting up a basic camp, Chohla ventured off to forage and fish. Sten, not wanting to deplete his dried foods when there were signs of game in the area, set off for fresh meat.

  Later that evening the two men sat next to the warm glow of a campfire, with a vast sky of stars and the two moons overhead. Sten was repeatedly rolling and stretching two oiled hare pelts to soften them. Chohla, while washing out the wooden bowls after their stew meal, remarked, "Those Maker crafts you've learned sure seem useful. Tricks, you called them?"

  "Yes, they save me a lot of time. Proper curing normally takes days. Even better, I have no need for a smelly tanning barrel anymore." The statement was the most Sten had spoken since they left the cave. There was a freedom to speak his mind with Chohla of things he could do, things that only his family and Lady Tovira knew of. Even with that freedom, Sten never cared to ramble. Just as with hunting, he thought making excessive noise would come to no good.

  There was a period of comfortable silence before Chohla offered, "Perhaps tomorrow we'll try to learn what instinctual gifts you might have. Other than taking on animal traits, I'd wager there's more in your blood to discover."

  Sten was intrigued by the notion, but didn't speak of it. His first thought was that Chohla might want him to hunt to bring out any unknown skills. Gathering more just for them wasn't needed at that time; they had enough food for a few days, and more furs wouldn't be needed until winter set in. Opposed to that, he thought that gathering hides to barter with on his long trek home was sensible.

  "I suppose I should explain the main consideration of hallowed travel," Chohla said, interrupting Sten's thoughts. "It may interest you all the more, for it deals with time... in a way."

  Frowning, Sten politely countered, "I thought you said that you didn't know how long hallowed travel took, master Chohla."

  "Oh, I don't. I was speaking of something else - access."

  "Access... You mean to a hallowed place?"

  "Yes, exactly," Chohla nodded while he pulled his blanket over his shoulders. "There are some guidelines to abide, although they are far simpler than trying to learn one of your Maker's tricks. Keep in mind that the agreement with nature includes everything - the ground below and the sky above."

  "I think I understand."

  "Good, then I'll make this as simple as I can. The hallowed cave in the Cragwood, where we departed from... You cannot use that place again to depart from until after the moons and stars have found the same position in the sky as the day we left."

  "The same position - that would be next autumn. I can't use it again for a whole cycle?"

  "You'll notice I said 'to depart from'. You can use it to arrive back in your woods at any time from another hallowed place."

  "So, then," Sten said hesitantly, pointing back toward the mountain, "we could use -"

  "No," Chohla gently cut him off, shaking his head. "It would be too easy, an abuse of the privilege. Hallowed travel never allows only two locations unless you're willing to wait for one of your cycles to pass. Three or more places are needed. That has always been the way. This is why attunement is important; you can trek to the next nearest hallowed place and travel back to where you began. I suppose it is nature's way of making travelers pay their respects, one way or the other."

  Sten thought on it for long moments. "Departing," he finally said, "is the firm rule, yes? I can only depart from a hallowed place once per cycle?"

  "Or more," Chohla added. "Once the stars have realigned - or at any time past then - you may depart from that place again. See? I told you time is involved."

  "But arriving at a place from hallowed travel doesn't have the same rule?"

  "Not so much. I'll try to make it plain. We traveled from your woods to the mountain there. We are not allowed to go back the same way. If we wish to go back home as quickly as possible, we use our attunement to find another hallowed place and use it to travel again. The place you pointed to earlier, I call it the white woods. I'm sure your people have a different name for it. We can go there and travel back to the Cragwood."

  "So," Sten started out slowly, making sure he understood, "I arrive back near home, and can't use that place until next autumn. The same is true of the place in your white woods because we will use it to depart as well, correct?"

  Chohla merely nodded while prodding the fire with a stick.

  "And the hallowed place in the mountain... Because I haven't departed from it, I can trek from my home to there at any time and use it. Is that right?"

  "Yes; you can arrive anywhere as often as you like, but the rule of departing is the key."

  "Then can't we use the mountain cave to depart? We could use it to travel to your white woods, and then depart from there as well."

  Chohla shook his head. "It won't work, Khoveyo," he said. "Just as air or water constantly flows, so does the gift of travel. To use that mountain cave again would trying to halt the flow since we just came from it. In this instance, the place in the Cragwood and the mountain cave share the connection of our travel. A third hallowed place must be used to continue, to flow on."

  "So the only way to depart from the mountain cave is to trek on foot to it?"

  "Unless you arrive in it and then wait a full cycle or more, yes."

  Sten thought for another moment and then said, "I think I have it right in my mind."

  "Good, because I was going to give up soon and try again later. Let me use one of those rabbit furs - I need a pillow." Chohla then lay on his side, pulled his blanket over him, and settled in on the matted grass. "Think on this more if you like," he said sleepily. "Tomorrow, I don't want you to do much thinking at all. Rest well, Khoveyo."