The Veil Weavers (5 page)

Arguments broke out all across the meadow, in a chaos of noise.

Then Greyfur staggered up, still weak and pale. “
Sssst!
This talk is useless.” He had an intensity that filled the valley, and the magic folk honoured it with their silence. “This boy, this
human
boy,” (there was that scorn again, in the way he said human), “can do what no human should be able to do.
Tss.
He can touch our magic. He can use our magic.”

The crowd hissed.

“That makes him magic folk.”

More hisses, and a cry, “But he’s
human!”

“Yes, human and magic.
Tss
. We have not had one before. We have had humans live in our world in happiness,
hnn
, like Maddy, but none who were strong in magic. Only this boy.”

The crowd booed and hissed.

Greyfur held up a hand for silence and continued. “Veil was created by Ancients Ones. There are no Ancient Ones now. Only veil and tears.
Sssst!
And this boy. Only this boy has hope of fixing tears.”

I choked on that.

“Only this boy, this magic human boy, can repair veil between human and magic worlds.”

But how?
my brain was screaming. No one else seemed to care about that. They listened and thought and then the larger buffalo spoke. “Let the boy do it. The boy will fix the veil.” And they believed it, like the problem was already solved. They yelped and howled and cawed; I just felt incredulous. What did they think I was going to do?

Keeper raised a huge hand and the magic folk grew silent again. He called out, “Is it the Will of the Gathering to support Josh in his effort to repair the veil?”

The magic folk shouted their approval, the birds cawing and trilling, gruff
hurrahs
from the buffalo. I heard some grumbles, but once it was clear that most magic folk approved, the grumbling stopped.

“Then this is the Decision of the Gathering, and all are bound by it.” Keeper’s voice resonated with power again, with the old magic of the Gathering.

“What does that mean?” I asked Keeper, as he turned to Maddy and me.

“It means we all must help you, whatever you need, so use it carefully.”

I felt burdened by this task, by their trust and support. They would give me anything I asked? That was too much! This was all too much. But when I turned to tell them, everyone was leaving. The Gathering was over.

Chapter Four

The Ancient Ones

I
stood staring as creatures left
– running,
flying, or simply vanishing into the forest. Aleena walked to the lakeshore, ready to water travel, to become water and flow as water, but Keeper called out to her. “Aleena, we may need your help.”

She stood, one foot in the lake, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. But something in Keeper’s face held her. She closed her eyes for a moment, nodded and stepped back from the water’s edge.

When the buffalo walked past, the larger one said, “If there’s any way we can help, let us know.”

“Thank you,” said Keeper.

As they walked down the shore of the lake, I could hear a low, rumbly song drifting back on the breeze:

Land of the silver birch,

home of the beaver...

“There are buffalo in the magic world?” asked Maddy.

“Of course,” said Keeper. “There always were. Then, when the buffalo in the human world were being hunted and we realized humans were going to kill them all, we opened doorways and rescued whole herds. Some have absorbed more magic than others.” He nodded at the buffalo walking down the valley. “They came from the human world. As they soaked up magic, they found their voices. They love to talk and sing.”

Maddy giggled. I thought it was oddly sweet and a little comforting that something human wasn’t despised.

We joined Greyfur and Eneirda beside the lake. Aleena sat on the opposite side of the group from Keeper. The crows joined us, Corvus strutting on the ground beside me, the others perched or flying nearby. The little girl crow leaned against my knee.

“Beloved of crows,” Maddy muttered.

“Shush,” I said. But I gently petted the crow’s soft back.

When we were all settled, Maddy said, “No one else is going to help?”

“We called the Gathering,” said Keeper, nodding to Greyfur, Eneirda and Corvus. “Now we know the Will of the Gathering. The others will help if we ask. That is enough.”

“Now it is up to Josh,” said Eneirda.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “How can I fix the veil?”

“Tss.
If you cannot, we all will die,” said Greyfur.

“You must find a way,” said Keeper.

Corvus cawed in agreement.

But how? I borrowed Maddy’s ring and walked over to the doorway. Through the ring, I could see a gold line marking its edge, and a gash stretching across it. Magic poured out, golden as honey. All around the tear, magic was pale and thin, as if it had been drained off.

I touched the edge of the veil and hung on as magic poured up my arm. I could feel the veil stretching around the world, woven of threads as fine as spider’s silk. I could feel the tears in all the doorways the nexus ring had been through, and feel magic flowing into the human world.

I grabbed both sides of the veil and pulled them together. They touched and light flared, but I couldn’t get the edges to connect. Frustrated, I muttered, “To fix something, you need the right tools, like a needle and thread to sew up a hole. I don’t know what I need, or if it’s even possible to repair it.”

“You’ll find a way. We’ll all help you,” Maddy said, nodding towards the group beside the lake. Then her eyes widened. “Maybe breakfast will help!”

She had a huge grin on her face as she checked out the meal Keeper and the otter-people set out for us. Keeper had lit a fire – he was heating water for mint tea and grilling meat. Buns were lined up at the edge of the fire, warming. A small bowl full of dried berries sat nearby.

“You have buns?” Maddy asked.

Keeper nodded. “Usually I bake my own but these are a gift from a park warden, a friend of mine.”

When I looked surprised, Keeper laughed. “I have many friends.”

Starving, we settled in to feast. Once I was full, I sat back and started to think again. “How was the veil created?” I asked.

“Aleena is the best storyteller,” said Keeper. I could hear disapproval in his voice, as he remembered the trouble she’d created before she understood the damage caused by the nexus ring.

I could tell that Aleena heard it too; her pale skin grew even more pale and her eyes darkened and snapped in anger. But she stayed – perhaps the Will of the Gathering held her.

“Long ago,” she said, “the Ancient Ones helped the earth grow. They taught living things magic, and embedded it in the rocks, in water and ice, in the very air we breathe. They drew it from sunlight and moonlight and stardust.”

Aleena spoke in her beautiful voice like she was weaving a story. She was a natural storyteller, her voice soft and fluid. She was beautiful to watch, too, if you didn’t know how scary she could be.

“They worked to keep magic in the world, as humans multiplied and learned to build. Some humans remembered magic, but more forgot, enamoured with building, making and doing. Eventually the Ancient
Ones gave up on humans and divided the world in two –
one for magic and one for humans – and set the veil between.”

Eneirda nodded her approval.

“Where are they now?” I asked.

“They are no more,” said Aleena.

“What happened to them?” asked Maddy.

Greyfur answered. “No one knows,
hnn.
When the veil was, they were not.”

“But what
happened
to them?” Maddy asked again, sounding stubborn.

Keeper shrugged.

“Maddy, come with me,” I said.

She followed me back to the doorway.

“Hold up your ring.”

She slipped her ring off her finger and held it up for me to peer through.

Watching through the ring, I grabbed both sides of the tear, hung on past the initial shock of magic, and
settled into the veil. I could feel every gash. When I settled
deeper I could feel time moving along the veil. I went even deeper, until I could hear the veil singing. I knew I was hearing the song of the Ancient Ones. But I still had no idea how to fix the tears.

Maddy and I walked back to the shore of the lake. “I need to know what happened to the Ancient Ones,” I announced. “I must know more about them.” I’d been expecting arguments, but when I said
must
, magic came with it, insisting.

“I don’t know any more about them,” said Aleena.

“Nor do I,” said Keeper. “There are few who would know such old stories.”

“None of us know,” said Greyfur.

Corvus cawed, and Keeper interpreted. “Giants are not old enough. The spirits are too old – their time sense is too large. They cannot focus on little details like this.”

“So who is older than the giants, but not as old as the spirits?” I asked.

Everyone looked uncomfortable as the Will of the Gathering pressed upon them.

“Gronvald is not old enough,” said Aleena, uneasy at even mentioning his name. “But he has a long memory, especially for anyone who harms him. He hates the veil – it slows him down. So he hates the Ancient Ones.”

Keeper nodded. “Trolls know many stories. They pass on knowledge of caves and metal and jewels. They remember every detail.”

“So, what do we do?” I asked. “Just go visit him?” I shuddered.

Maddy said, “Let’s go for tea. I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed to see us.” She laughed, but it sounded a little hysterical.

“He will not want to see us. But he will, if it is the Will of the Gathering.”

“I need to talk to him,” I said.

Keeper and Corvus conferred – it looked like they were arguing. Finally Keeper repeated, “It is the Will of the Gathering.”

Corvus squawked in response. He cawed to two crows and they flew to Keeper’s cave. Then Corvus chose two others, and left with them.

I was getting frustrated with not being able to understand crow. I could feel his disagreement, but not catch the words. Maddy and l looked at Keeper, waiting for an explanation.

“Corvus and his friends have gone to inform Gronvald that it is the Will of the Gathering that he speak with us.”

But I really don’t want to talk to him
, I thought. Maddy slipped her hand into mine. I glanced down – had she become a mind reader?

“Will they be safe?” asked Maddy. “What if Gronvald hurts them?”

“They fly at the Will of the Gathering,” said Keeper. “He will not harm them.” Then he smiled. “Although he will do everything he can to scare them!”

“And the others?” Maddy asked, pointing towards Keeper’s cave.

Keeper watched for a few moments, and nodded as the birds flew out of his cave, carrying something between them.

“They bring gold for Gronvald,” said Keeper. “His fee. He will not want to speak to us, even with the Will of the Gathering requiring that he help us. The gold will make it easier for him.”

The crows dropped the bag at Keeper’s feet. The small canvas sack clanked as it fell. Keeper untied it so we could see in – it was filled with shining gold coins.

“So he’ll help us?” Maddy asked.

“No. He will not want to tell us anything,” said Keeper, smiling.

“Then why are we going?” I asked, still hoping to avoid Gronvald.

“He will not want us to repair the veil. The tears make it easier for him to travel to the human world to steal gold. But he will talk to us. We may be able to learn something useful from him.”

Keeper stood and dropped the bag of coins into a huge jacket pocket. When Greyfur and Eneirda moved to join us, Keeper shook his head. “No, you must rest. You have done enough. Aleena will come with us.”