Anarchistbanjo's World

Anarchist Knight Apprentice by Joe E Bandel

Chapter 18 Visions of the Cave

Tobal thought back to Crow’s initiation, which had just taken place a couple of hours ago. The bonfire’s heat still warmed his memory as the line was forming for entrance. Misty and the High Priest were casting the circle. Ellen was standing as a guard at the circle’s entrance. She motioned for Tobal to come closer.

“Meet me after circle,” she said. “We’ve got some things we need to talk about.”

“Can Rafe come too?” He asked.

She considered and then nodded, “He probably already knows more than I do doesn’t he?”

Tobal nodded and chuckled, “I’ll tell him. We’ll see you later then.”

Together Tobal and Sarah found Fiona, Becca and Nikki and sat with them. They chatted and were telling stories about newbies. They were excited and impressed that Sarah was going to train a newbie in the middle of the winter. They watched as the newbies were initiated.

Later Tobal was introduced to each of the new initiates by Crow, who had just been initiated a couple of hours ago. Ellen had seen both him and Crow with the Lord and Lady above the bonfire during his initiation, and she was certainly going to be asking him about that. Having already astral projected to the cave with Ron, Rachel, and Arthur, Crow was excited to share his version of what they had revealed during the initiation—the cave’s altar pulsed as Rachel spoke—and Crow was eager to talk about it. Tobal urged him to wait till later when they were alone and could talk more quietly and respectfully. Crow agreed, but Tobal could see he was extremely excited.

He tried to speak alone with Fiona and Becca but they were so busy chatting with the others that he gave up in frustration. He wanted to know the two girls better but always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He really enjoyed the few trips they had made to sanctuary together. It seemed with all the partnering going on he was feeling lonely and left out much of the time. It didn’t help that much of this was his own personal choice.

Zee and Kevin were planning on spending the winter together. Their newbies were soloing and being kicked out of the nest. They would probably end up partnering with one of the other newly soloed Apprentices. No one really liked spending the long winter months alone if they could help it. It was an added bonus if romance was involved. Still, spending the winter with a romantic partner had its own drawbacks and many such partnerships did not last till spring. Still not very many wanted to train during the winter either. Perhaps the most common was partnering with friends or newbies during the winter.

The next place he headed was over to the beer barrel for some brew. Butch and Mike were talking with Rafe.

“Mike and I were thinking about holing up for the rest of the winter but we really don’t know where the best place is,” Butch was saying. “We have a few places we want to check out. Someone already claimed the one we were planning to use. They chased us out of there, let me tell you.” He laughed.

“Hey you guys can live in my old base camp for the winter if you want to,” Rafe said. “I’m not living there anymore and spending most of my time either at circle or the Journeyman camp. I have most of my things out of there that I need.”

“Are you sure?” Mike asked eagerly. Rafe was legendary and his camp must be a pretty sweet setup where ever it was.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “Consider it yours. Does either of you know where it is? I didn’t think so. Bring a map and I’ll mark it for you. If you have any trouble finding it Tobal or one of the girls can help you.”

He looked at Tobal and grinned.

“I’m just giving away my campsite to these guys,” he grinned mischievously. “That is if they can find it. The Journeyman degree is so different I don’t need a base camp for the winter.”

“We’ll check it out first thing Rafe,” Butch grinned back. “We’ll find it if it takes us all week.” Then he and Mike left toward the circle with their fresh brews in their hands.

Tobal nodded at Dirk.

“You guys working here now?”

“Yes,” Dirk grinned evilly. “We’re the beer meisters now.”

“What’s that mean?” Tobal asked cautiously.

“We were taken off wood duty and now we make sure no one runs out of beer. Rafe interrupted, “See this beer,” he held up a foamy mug of beer. “This beer is four months old. Beer tastes best when it is four months old. The beer we make won’t be ready until March or April sometime.” He grinned evilly.

“That means we can experiment with the recipe a bit and have some fun with it.” Dirk added, “We’ve got to brew the beer and keep it from freezing so we will be spending the next two months right here. We go through three or four barrels every month at circle. Last month we went through twelve because there were three days of feasting. That used up our reserves.”

“That means we’ve got to work harder than ever,” Rafe said gloomily. Then he brightened up, “That’s why we are going to have some fun with this. I’ve already got some special ingredients in mind.”

Tobal knew there were times when the beer had been absolutely nasty and undrinkable. “I hope you don’t make some of that real nasty stuff that gives people the runs like it did last July.”

Rafe grinned. “We aren’t planning to be around drinking it. We should both be getting our Masters initiation by then. I hear the medics have some real good stuff and they even make some brandy.”

“You’re not serious?” Tobal gasped in horror at the thought. You wouldn’t do that to us would you?” He pleaded with them. Rafe and Dirk were laughing hard now.

“You wait and see,” was all either of them would say.

They talked more about the art of brewing beer in the wilderness. The real issue was getting enough sugar to ferment into alcohol. The sugar content came from boiling maple syrup down into maple sugar in the spring. There were only about three weeks when the sap really flowed and the entire Journeyman community helped in boiling it down.

It was not uncommon to see air sleds carrying buckets of maple sap. The medics even provided plastic buckets with lids from used hospital supplies to be used for barrels and also provided the yeast. The other ingredients were left up to the imagination of the brew miester although the basic recipe was expected to be followed fairly closely. The maple syrup was kept in the same location as the beer and not allowed to freeze.

Tobal shuddered to think of what those two would come up with. Best to enjoy the beer they were serving today which was rich and tasty. He told Rafe he would talk with him sometime later after circle and they could both meet with Ellen to see what she had found out about the rogue attacks. Then he went off looking for the others.

There was no sign of Tara and Nick. Tobal guessed they were snowed in and making the best of it. The weather was bitter cold and the three-day travel to circle was something only the brave or desperate would willingly tackle. Tobal came because it was his social connection to the others, a time to forget his own troubles, celebrate and have some fun with others.

He found Sarah over by the cooking pits slicing off choice pieces of roast and getting some stew. The stew was the main way the clan had vegetables in the winter and everyone contributed from their own stores.

His own stomach started to rumble. “Is the stew any good?”

She glanced at him, “Oh, hi Tobal. Yes, the stew and roast is excellent. Grab a bowl.”

Tobal grabbed one of the large wooden bowls that were stacked nearby and went over to the roast first. He cut several chunks of meat off the roast and filled the bowl to the top with stew. Then he grabbed a wooden spoon and tasted it. She was right. It was delicious.

“Did you get your winter camp setup all right?” He asked her between spoonfuls.

“Butch and Mike helped me get things together and it’s really great! I’m so glad they were able to help because it was a lot of work. Did you hear they are going to get Rafe’s old base camp?”

“Yes, I heard they were going to check it out anyway,” he chuckled, “That is if they can find it. Rafe’s camp is hard to find.”

“I know, that’s what I told them too,” she said. “I had a hard time finding Rafe’s camp the first time I was there. You remember don’t you? It was when I was training with you and we needed to go there and get your old winter supplies. We went together.”

“Oh, that’s right,” he smiled sheepishly. “I must be getting old. I completely forgot about that. We did have some fun and some good times. I bet you miss your father though.”

“It’s kind of surprising but I really don’t miss him that much. In fact there are times I feel he is right here checking up on me. It’s like I can see him with my mind’s eye. I know he’s not really there but part of him is and it helps me.” She started crying and Tobal put his arms around her and comforted her. Finally she stopped and wiped her eyes and nose.

“Sorry about that,” she sniffled. “I guess I miss him more than I thought I did.”

“That’s alright,” he said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He changed the subject, “Now that your base camp is ready are you going to partner up for the winter?”

“Actually,” she said, “I’m going to try for my first newbie and see how it goes.”

“Really?”

Tobal was both surprised and pleased that she would try her first newbie during the hardest time of the year. She did have a nice base camp though and plenty of game in the area. She also had enough furs to get her newbie protected from the elements until they could manufacture their own.

“That’s great!” He gave her a big hug and a kiss. “Let me know if you need anything.”

She said she would and they finished their meal chatting about other things. She was happy and in much better health than she had been at the store. Tobal could tell she was thriving out here being around people her own age.

Together they washed the bowls and spoons so others could use them and went over to change into robes for circle.

It was during the party and after the initiations that Tobal, Rafe, and Ellen got together and compared notes.

“I want to check it out myself,” Rafe was telling them both.

“It’s not a good time right now,” Ellen said. “The snow will make it easy to track you to the location and it will no longer be secret. The ice in the pool and the coldness of the water also make it very dangerous. Tobal was lucky he was able to find warm clothes and get a torch going for warmth. He might have died from hypothermia.”

“She’s right Rafe,” he said. “I was lucky to get out of there alive. I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten that fire going. Still, Crow and I have been astral projecting to the cave, and I’m itching to explore it with my own feet as soon as possible.”

Ellen continued, “I’ve been keeping a patrol over that area looking for rogues every couple of days. What is interesting is there always seems to be fresh tracks in the area around the lake but I never see anyone. I am convinced they are looking for some secret location they know is there but can’t find. They are looking for the location you found Tobal.” She looked at him with a piercing stare. “There is something very important about that location. Are you sure you have told me everything?”

She tried to be polite, but both Tobal and Rafe knew she was serious and she knew they were withholding information from her. They looked at each other and Tobal shrugged uneasily.

“This gets weird.” He said a bit lamely.

Ellen was looking at him with a let’s get this over with expression. He considered and then gave in. Ellen was someone he trusted even if he didn’t know her that well. He had no reason to believe she would turn him in or cause him harm. She had already been very helpful to him.

“It’s all confused.” He began. “It involves my uncle who used to be the Federation Officer here. He was in charge of the classified work my parents were doing. It involves Sarah’s father who has a very strange shop in Old Seattle.

That’s not all,” he said resignedly. “It also involves Crow’s grandfather, a shaman named Howling Wolf from the local village and the mass murder of all the people living at the old gathering spot by the waterfall. These deaths include my own parents, Crow’s parents, Sarah’s mother and two brother’s that she doesn’t even know she has. Although there is increasing evidence that my own parents are still alive and held prisoner by the Federation. Then there is Arthur, an AI who guards the secret location and controls the force field that surrounds it.”

“Damn,” Rafe whispered in stunned shock. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

Ellen gradually regained her own composure and echoed Rafe’s question, “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“I’ve only just learned about some of it myself,” Tobal said. “I’m still training Crow and didn’t know he was Howling Wolf’s grandson until he told me. We’ve been astral projecting to the cave and met Ron, Rachel, and Arthur, but we’re eager to explore it physically when it’s safer.”

“So that is why you and Crow appeared above the bonfire with the Lord and Lady? Is there anything else you are not telling me,” Ellen persisted. “Do you have any proof what you are saying is true?”

Again Tobal and Rafe looked at each other. Tobal sighed and stood up. “You’d better follow me. We’ll go for a walk and I’ll show you.”

As they walked into the moonlit woods they retraced the steps back to where Tobal had demonstrated the wand to Rafe last month. He showed Ellen the same demonstration he had shown Rafe. There was pure silence as she touched the second hole in the boulder and looked at the steaming circle that seconds ago had been frozen and snow covered. With luck it would be frozen and snow covered again by morning if the wind kept up.

“Let’s go back,” was all she said. The snow crunched eerily under their boots as they made their way back to the fire circle.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the wand before,” Tobal said nervously. “I wanted a chance to examine it first. Everything was so rushed and the rogues were tracing me somehow. Then last circle I tried to meet with you and wasn’t able to.” He stopped as she waved a weary hand to silence him.

“We can be pretty certain the rogues are able to monitor any of us that are wearing med-alert bracelets,” she said finally. “That’s why we never see any of them. They know we are coming and hide. We can also be pretty sure they are from the same mountain complex we use as our own base.”

Tobal and Rafe looked at each other in puzzlement. Ellen noticed and continued.

“Just like the Journeymen and the Apprentices, the Masters or medics have a secret meeting place. Ours is part of a mountain complex we thought belonged to the city. I am now thinking it is part of a classified Federation military operation of some type. We are only allowed access to the emergency room in the hospital and one wing where we have our own personal quarters and do rituals. I suppose it makes things much easier for them to keep an eye on us when we live right there with them.”

She looked at Rafe, “I’ve told Tobal this already. The area around the lake by the waterfall and several other locations including the village are forbidden and we have orders to prevent people from going there.”

“I didn’t realize Crow came from the other village,” she said. “That might complicate things if he ever decides to go back and visit.”

She put her hands on her temples rubbing them as if she had a massive migraine coming on. “Let’s just leave it like this for now,” she said at last. “We can talk about it later next month. I really need to think about what you have told me and shown me. This sounds like something very dangerous to be mixed up in.”

Rafe interrupted, “Can you mark on my map those other forbidden places? I might not be able to check them out but I would like to know where they are.”

Ellen stared intently at Rafe a few minutes and then nodded, “Most of them are not accessible on foot though so it won’t do you any good. Bring me your map and I will mark it later.”

“And you,” she turned to Tobal, “What are you planning to do with that device you found? Have you thought about that? It is not safe to have it around or to carry it with you.”

“I’d like to think about it for another month,” he said thoughtfully. “I know I can’t keep it after I’m a Journeyman because I won’t have a good place to hide it. I’ll let you know soon.”

The three of them had a lot on their minds as they broke up the meeting and went back to join the others at the drumming circle. Tobal felt thirsty and went looking for fresh brew and light conversation. Later he even joined in with the dancing although he kept his robe on. So did many of the others as the wind was chill and it was several degrees below zero.

He and Crow said their good-byes and left the circle early the next morning right after the group meditation with the usual hugs and kisses to the girls. A faint cave echo lingered during the meditation. The days were getting shorter and there was only six hours of light for useful travel. As they snowshoed their way back to Tobal’s winter camp they talked about Crow’s initiation and his conversations with the Lord and Lady.

“They are worried about you,” Crow said to Tobal suddenly.

“Who is worried about me? What are you talking about?”

The Lord and Lady, they are worried about you. They say that you need a soul retrieval. An important part of your soul is missing.

“What is a soul retrieval?”

“That is when a shaman goes on a soul journey and brings back a part of someone’s soul that has been missing or stolen. My grandfather trained me in the spirit journey method and I can do this for you. The Lord and Lady want me to do this for you. Having astral projected to the cave with them, I’ve felt their guidance, but I’d love to stand there in person. You will let me do this won’t you?” He implored looking searchingly at Tobal.

Tobal was a bit uncomfortable talking about things he didn’t understand. “I need to think about it ok? What else did the Lord and Lady have to say?”

Crow was very excited, “They told me to tell you they are still alive! They are very weak and not in good health but they are alive. They are trapped somewhere and can’t free themselves. They use the energy generated by the circle and by the cave to communicate with us. Not many can see or hear them though. Usually it is only the High Priest and High Priestess that can see them or hear them.

“I have never heard them or felt them so strongly,” he told Tobal with tears in his eyes. “We do not have circle like this at our village. Our circle is different and they don’t come to us as strongly. They showed me my parents again, Tobal. They let me speak with my parents again.”

“But I thought your parents were dead,” Tobal asked slowly?

“They are in the Summerland,” Crow replied. It is where the spirit goes after the physical body dies. My parents are happy there but they miss my sister and me. They told me there is danger for all of us coming soon and we must be prepared. The Lord and Lady will help us if they can but we must learn how to talk to them and listen to what they have to say. I need to teach you and your friends the ways of the shaman so you are ready when the time comes.”

Tobal didn’t know what to say. The thought that his parents might still be alive seemed more and more certain since they were talking with him as well. It still stunned him that his parents were the Lord and Lady and that Crow was able to carry on conversations not only with them, but with Crow’s own dead parents as well. He felt them now, the Lord and Lady, at the back of his mind urging him to believe. Oh, how he wanted to believe but did he dare? Having visited them astrally in the cave, he longed to see them physically, but these thoughts troubled him as they made their journey home through the bitter cold and snow. The only time he saw them in happy visions was during circle or his visits to the cave. Shadows of chains flickered in all his other contacts and visions of them, nightmarish and haunting.

He spent the second month with Crow gaining advanced knowledge in the art of survival and craftsmanship. Crow had grown up in a community that lived a primitive life close to nature. His training had went beyond simple survival into quality of life areas such as art and decorative clothing and functional tools such as hand axes made of flint with razor edges and the knowledge of how to sharpen them. There were fun things too such as games, drums, whistles, flutes and other items carved from wood.

In the evenings he worked on the small carvings he intended to give to his friends at Yule. He also very much improved the look of his wardrobe seeking to match the stylish clothing Crow created so easily from the leathers and furs they had caught over the past two months.

Mostly though, in the evening he listened to the stories of the old ones and of the Lord and Lady of the Oak. They both astral projected to the cave and were taught by his parents and by Arthur. They taught them both things and protected them in the wilderness. Crow said they also talked with his grandfather. His grandfather knew Arthur and knew his parents were still alive but it was not time to free them yet. They had to wait for Lucas and Carla. A glimpse of a fiery realm flickered during one projection.

Tobal asked questions and tried to make sense of as much of it as he could. Crow offered to teach him special meditations that would prepare him for the time when the Lord and Lady would talk with him also. Having already astral projected to the cave, Tobal accepted gladly and each night they would practice astral projecting to the other realms and other shaman practices Crow felt were important.

“The soul has many parts.” Crow told him one evening. “The soul was divided into 120 fragments and scattered through all nine realms. These are hidden and must be found. Each of these fragments must be strong and complete and full of energy before the soul can travel to the different realms. A surge of clarity hit me when I found one fragment.”

Howling Wolf, my grandfather, found and developed all the parts of his soul until he was filled solid and complete like a crystal. His soul was so hard and packed with energy it was like his physical body. It too could travel and he could be in two places at the same time. The Lord and Lady called this bi-location and wanted to learn it from grandfather.

Grandfather told them it was an ancient mystery of shaman since the dawn of time. Grandfather knew about the sanctuary training program that your parents created and he approved of it. He said it helped to gather and develop all the missing soul fragments in the lower realms, but not the higher ones. He told your parents the soul could not travel until all of the parts were completed and filled with energy. That was why things were not working right for your parents in their research.

Grandfather offered to teach them the ways of the shaman to retrieve the higher missing soul fragments and they accepted. He came to them in secret and taught several of them and several other in the secret meeting place near the lake. Soon the Lord and Lady were more powerful than Howling Wolf. They were scientists and discovered ways to use machines to force even more energy into the soul and physical body than ever before. Then they were contacted by the Time Knights.”

Crow continued his story as Tobal listened in fascination.” Grandfather had only been able to bi-locate or spirit travel to the point where he could be in two places at once. His spirit body that traveled was made of energy so tightly packed and compressed that it could be seen and felt like a physical body. It was a physical body made completely of energy. When he traveled he used this physical body of energy and left his normal physical body at home sleeping.

“The Lord and Lady used machines to develop this process to the point where the actual physical body would disappear and appear some other place. Later at the secret meeting place they were able to take others with them on journeys to strange and wonderful places and bring things back with them. The Time Knights came and shared their own technology with Ron and Rachel.

“Grandfather says he still goes on journeys to some of those places he visited with the Lord and Lady. He has taken my sister to some of those places too but it is very secret and he says I am too young to go on such journeys yet.

Now my sister goes on journeys by herself without grandfather and he worries about her because the journeys are dangerous. He says my parents and the others at the lake were killed because they knew these things and that if the evil ones knew about us they would try to kill us as well.”

“There is a mighty secret hidden in the cave at the lake,” he said seriously to Tobal. “I can find it but you must explain it to me. That is what grandfather told me. Having visited it astrally with Ron, Rachel, and Arthur, we know it’s real, but I’d love to see it with my own eyes. We can go now if you want.”

“We can’t go now,” Tobal told him gently and pointed to the med-alert bracelets they both were wearing. “These bracelets let the medics and the evil ones know where we are at all times and we can’t take them off. If we take them off the medics will come looking to see what is wrong. If we don’t wear them we can’t become citizens of Heliopolis. You remember that is what your grandfather wanted you to do?” He asked.

” That area by the lake is forbidden and they don’t want us to go there. It is because of the great secret you are telling about.” He told Crow about his experience with the air sleds during his visit of the abandoned gathering spot the first time. When he told Crow about his second visit the boy’s eyes looked like burning coals as Tobal described the cave and the altar.

“That is the cave we visit in our astral journeys,” he said. “My grandfather goes to a cave much like the one you have described. But it is a secret and he has not told me its location. I am not old enough he says, although my sister has gone and she described it to me. It has the same symbol you speak of above the altar itself. Perhaps it is the same cave?”

“I don’t think so,” Tobal replied. “When I was in the cave it looked like no one had been there for many years.”

“I want to see the grave of my parents in person. Will you take me?” Crow asked Tobal suddenly.

“I have wanted to go back many times myself,” he said to Crow, ” but I am afraid it will not work in the winter time. I’ve spoken much about this with my friend Rafe and Ellen. They both believe it is very dangerous and we must wait until we are medics and have our own air sleds. Then we can work together and protect each other if needed. Having astral projected there, I’m eager to stand at their graves in person, but any other way seems too dangerous and likely that we will get caught. It is especially dangerous in the wintertime when the snow will give away our location and leave tracks. I will mark it on your map though so you know where it is.”

“Then let’s become medics,” Crow said determinedly. “Let’s learn the mysteries and ways of the evil ones so that we may defeat them.”

Tobal chuckled, “So we will, so we will. But now it’s time to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a busy day.”