Son of Soron (11 page)

To the north lay the swamp lands and then the land started to rise quickly into the mountains. In the west, lay more forests and plains with few villages or roads. Nathan decided he would head north into the familiar swamp lands, which offered plenty of food and shelter. Then, he would start working his way west to explore some new land.

Chapter eighteen

THE NEXT COUPLE weeks went by quick for Nathan. Every day he would follow roughly the same routine. He continued traveling through the forest and swamp lands, keeping to high ground, until his eye caught sight of a berry bush or swamp pod of value. He would pick the berries, herbs and wild vegetables as he found them. As much as berries and edible roots were abundant enough to help fill his belly, he needed to hunt for meat.  Worpon, a small docile variety of wild hog, was an animal easy to hunt and provided a satisfying meal that replenished his energy.

Most curious and fortunate for Nathan was the day he had been stalking a rabbit when from out from nowhere came a fox and quickly snatched the prize.  Nathan groaned. In his mind he thought, drop that damned rabbit, I saw it first.  He swore out loud. The fox dropped the rabbit. Nathan could not believe his luck. The fox stopped and looked back at Nathan, then at the rabbit, before taking one last look at Nathan and running off into the woods. The incident reminded Nathan of his encounter with the wolf.

By mid-day, he would stop and eat the berries and vegetables he had gathered, along with any leftover meat from the night before, if he had been successful hunting. With hunger almost satisfied, he would spend hours working with the daggers, remembering each move his father had taught him. He would work on each progression of attacks and counter-attacks. When he tired, he would sit for a few minutes and practice controlling his breathing. Many of his father’s lessons on fighting had been not only about how to use weapons but also how to control his own body and mind. Losing control of one’s emotions or not being able to control one’s adrenalin during a fight were as dangerous to a warrior as any enemy’s blade. Nathan focused on the breathing techniques his father taught him to bring his heart rate down and calm his mind. He would continue wandering and spend the afternoons looking for more food and herbs, always keeping an eye out for a suitable spot to make camp for the night. Each night before dusk, he would make camp by finding a sheltered spot to sleep and make a fire. If he had a successful hunt it was a cooking fire. If he came up empty-handed or had leftover food, it was a comfort fire.

In the firelight, he would sort his daily pickings. Velaina had taught him well. He knew what to look for while wandering through the forest and swamps. Each day, he would pick wild rose petals, any aromatic flowers petals he came across, wild mint leaves and white cedar to make perfume. Perfume wasn't very useful but it always sold for a good price in the markets. Cattails, marsh mallows and birch sap made a good salve for cuts and bruises, and a liquid version with ginger root and honey was good for indigestion, colds, fever and upset stomach.  Nathan knew many other cures and potion formulations but the perfume, salve and ginger root drink would sell quickly anywhere. With his mortar and pestle, he ground up the herbs and made his potions. Many of the herbs that Nathan picked also were edible. Cattail roots made nutritious flour.  The flour would have been tastier had he been able to fry it in butter. However   no matter how much he wished he could pull out a cow in the middle of nowhere butter was not on the menu. Taste was not the main concern. Survival, food for energy was the main concern.  Strawberries, small and tasty, were in season. He ate the berries and saved strawberry leaves. The leaves made a fine tea for treating disteria.  Each day, after he was done gathering materials for making potions and salves, he would eat supper sitting by the fire looking up at the stars, wondering if his parents were up there watching him.

Nathan was stretching out after a tasty meal of a particularly fat and juicy quail when he heard a ripping sound. He looked down at his shirt. He had just torn the seams of his tunic. His clothes were getting old, ragged and rather on the small side. Before long he would need to trade or make some new clothes or end up walking around the forest naked. I really do need new clothes Nathan thought to himself. While he enjoyed the solitude and peaceful surrounding of the forest and swamps, he was starting to miss the sound of other people, not to mention Ava. While not ready to return to Elderwood, he was ready to socialize with the world once more.

Deciding to leave the swamplands, he started heading south. He was already several days walk west of Elderwood. Heading south now, it would take only him a few days to reach Birchone, even with his heavy sack filled with natures' bounty. At Birchone, he planned on selling goods at the market, staying in an inn for a few nights and eating someone else’s cooking.

As he walked south, the land changed. The damp wet—lands filled with cattails, birch and bushes full of berries—dried. The trees became taller, growing pines and cedars. Even the scent of the forest changed.  The lighter woodsy smells of cedar, and combinations of wild flowers, started replacing the musky pungent odors of the swamp. Nathan enjoyed the walk. As much as the northern swamplands were filled with valuable herbs and plentiful amounts of food,, they were not the prettiest or most inviting lands.

The woodlands to the south presented a much more appeasing landscape. After three days of walking south, Nathan started to recognize some of the land. He was back in familiar territory and only a day’s walk from Birchone.

Following a meandering brook, Nathan stopped at a small water pool for the day. First he built a fire, then started collecting a few items from his packs and started making some soap. It wouldn’t help his sales to come into the village smelling like he had been camping in the woods for over months.

He crushed up some wood ash to made lye. This he combined with aloe and sunflower oil, mint leaf and lavender. Nathan heated the mixture then carved out a chunk of bark to create a mold for the soap. He poured the soap mixture into the bark mold and let it cool. The lye combined with sunflower oil turning the oil into a harder, more solid bar of soap.

Nathan stripped down and jumped into the pool of water, finding it cool and refreshing. He quickly scrubbed himself down with the soap and then gave his clothes a quick scrub as well. As his clothing dried in the afternoon sun, he took one of his daggers and used the reflection of the pond to give his hair a trim. He had been getting rather shaggy.

Looking into the pond he was almost startled by his reflection. He had grown in the last months. Taller and leaner, his skin was bronzed by the daily sun. His dark hair and brown skin make his bright blue eyes stand out even more. He had not gotten his dark hair from his mother he certainly got his bright light blue eyes from her. While he was lean from constant walking, he was wider in the shoulders now.  Tall and strong with narrow hips and wide shoulders, standing over six feet tall now. He would look most men in the eyes or down on them. Nathan was quickly becoming a young man.

Birchone, while by no means a city, was a much busier place than Elderwood. Being on the main trade route from the south to the east, it drew a fairly steady stream of travelers, most on route to the large cities of Progoh and Venecia. The village of Birchone had many farms in the surrounding area. They would bring their grains, vegetables and livestock to sell to the traders, who would take those goods into the larger markets to resell. Nathan had always enjoyed coming to Birchone with his mother to sell their goods.

The markets were always full of interesting things, as the profession traders were always willing to exchange goods instead of coins. Every time they sold a good in Birchone, it gave them more space to take on new goods to sell in the cities.

Besides the trading markets, Birchone was home to several businesses that catered to travelers, such as blacksmith shops, a livery, and several inns and pubs.

The Winking Mule was Nathan’s first order of business on entering the village. It was his favorite place to stay when in Birchone. The inn was a two-story building, with individual rooms upstairs and a large common room on the main floor. They served excellent meals and made rather tasty honey mead.

Nathan walked into the building and looked around, behind the bar stood its proprietor, the man known as Big Willy. Hearing his name, one might conjure an image of a large burly man with an oversized belly, but Big Willy was nothing like that. Big Willy, or William Biggs, was a small slender man in his later years. His stature may have been small but Big Willy had a large smile and was always friendly with Nathan and Velaina when they traveled to Birchone.

As Nathan walked up the bar Big Willy gave him a thoughtful look before breaking into a smile “Why hello there lad, I hardly recognized you. You have grown some since the last time I saw you." Big Willy chuckled.  “But your clothes haven’t. It looks like you are going to have to spend a coin or two at the market and get some new ones.”

Nathan looked down. He had managed to do a good job cleaning his clothes the day before. But no amount of cleaning could hide the fact that his shirt and trousers were a couple inches short. “Clothes and some good shoes for sure, but first a room and meal,” said Nathan with a sheepish smile.

“Certainly, I’ll bring a bowl of stew and some fresh bread out for you in a few minutes with a mug of mead. Take the first room on the left; you will be able to see the traders set up for market in the morning through your window. You can get a peek at who has some decent clothes.”

Nathan placed two silver coins and a copper on the bar. ”I’ll want the room for at least a few nights; this should cover it and my meals." 

Big Willy took the coins and laughed. “Well, I don’t know about that. It will cover the room for sure but, from the size of you, I would say you’re going to eat enough to drive me into the poor house at that rate” with a wink he slapped Nathan on the arm. “Take a seat and let me go get you some food.”

Big Willy headed back to the kitchen while Nathan took a moment to survey the room. Besides the large bar and hearth the inn’s common room was filled with an assortment of large and small tables. Most were filled with patrons finishing off their dinner while enjoy a pitcher of mead or wine. In the corner Nathan found a small empty table at which to take a seat.

Soon, Big Willy came back out with a large bowl of steaming stew and a half a loaf of fresh bread. The aroma of the fresh baked bread made Nathan’s mouth water. He took a mouthful of the savory meal and sighed contently. He enjoyed eating someone else’s cooking, especially a nice hot stew like this, full of chunks of beef and garden vegetables. A nice change from the mostly wild fruits, game and plants his meals had consisted of during his stay in the swamps and woodlands.

After enjoying the stew and fresh bread, Nathan headed up to his room. A proper bed was a winning proposition on all accounts. As Nathan got to the stairs leading up to his room Big Willy stopped him for a brief moment. “We heard what happened in Elderwood. I am sorry for your loss. Both your parents were fine people and always treated me well. They will be missed,” spoke Big Willy solemnly. Nathan thanked him and headed up to his room. The room was sparse but clean. Nathan sat down on the bed, his lanky frame filled it. This was so much better than sleeping on the ground, he thought to himself as he fell into a restful slumber.

The next morning, Nathan woke refreshed and full of energy. The quality sleep and prospect of new proper-fitting clothes did wonders for his mood. As he exited the inn, Big Willy gave him a heads up that several traders had set up in the market this morning and that he should visit the tall balding man at the north end of the street. Big Willy explained that his clothes were more expensive but they were high quality and he was the most likely to give Nathan fair value for his perfumes. Big Willy had already spoken to the man and let him know that Nathan’s family always produced goods that fetched top dollar among the royal families.

“Thank you, Big Willy, that sounds perfect. I will go right now.” Nathan was feeling sheepish about his clothing, or lack thereof. It was time to remedy the situation.

The tall balding trader was expecting him when Nathan arrived. He quickly sized up Nathan’s build and picked out several garments for Nathan to look over. Many of the tunics and pants were obviously meant for richer city folk, bright colors and intricate designs were a common theme. But the clothing was all high quality thick Morthon cotton with silk threading. Hester, the tall bald trader, had evidently been trading clothing for a while. His experience showed when the garments he had chosen for Nathan all fit perfectly.

After Nathan picked out a few that he might like, he opened his satchel to show Hester his own goods. His mother had been known for her high-quality perfumes despite the fact she did not often make them. She had preferred to spend most of her efforts on healing salves and potions, but she always got excellent value in trade for them.  Hester examined a few of Nathan’s vials looking to see how clear the oils were. Cloudy oils would indicate a low quality perfume not properly mixed. Satisfied that they were all very clear and of a good consistency, he opened one of the vials to give it a sniff.

Hester could tell right away that he would get excellent coin for the perfume. The combination of rose petals, jasmine and a hint of lavender were the notes that Hester could detect. After a short bit of haggling, Nathan traded six vials of perfume and two small pouches filled with a healing salve. He received two pairs of pants three tunics and two pair of shoes.

Once Nathan was done trading with Hester, he spent the next hour wandering the market and making small trades. He found a glass trader and replenished his supply of vials for future potions and traded several pouches of salves for a large sack of food, the cured ham, cheeses, bread and fresh fruit were a welcomed change from his previous road meals.