Ranger’s Odyssey

Chapter Two Rangerling When Mara stepped onto the rope bridge connecting her aunt and uncle’s house to the upper village, she looked every bit an Ambergrovian native. Freya had given Mara some soft pants in a deep green, knee-high chocolate boots, and a dingy, tan shirt that had sleeves to the elbow and lacing between the neck and chest. To top it off, Teddy had braided her hair—in a surprisingly delicate and intricate pattern. Teddy boasted this perfect braid to his wife as they led Mara across to the village. Crossing the bridge, Mara looked out at the forest around her. There was a spiral staircase going up each tree, with doors spaced evenly up the trunk and branches. Rope bridges cascaded throughout the forest, networking every tree to the village tree at the center. The village tree itself was massive, more than double the girth of all the other trees. Looking around at this network, something dawned on Mara. “T-Tederen?” she asked uncertainly. “Teddy—Uncle Teddy. Yes?” “How can a civilization that’s all about nature be okay doing this to trees? And how are they even alive with so many holes in them?” “Ah, now that’s a simple one.” He chuckled. “These are Aeunna trees. They were given to us by Aeun, the goddess of nature. These trees grow large and hollow for our use. The pegs for the stairways are natural branches. The only real modifications we make are to add doors to our homes and to string the bridges from tree to tree.” Mara marveled at this as she neared the village tree. There were people waiting for them on the other side of the bridge. One was an ancient woman, grey and hunched. One was a tall, middle-aged man with a hunter green beard, and one was a heavily tattooed young woman with red hair all spiked up like flames. They all wore pale green robes and little circlets of leaves. When Mara got to them, it was the man who first introduced himself with a bow. “Welcome, young Mara. My name is Aengar the Green.” He gestured to the elderly woman and the young woman, respectively. “This is Rhodi the Wise and Cora the Marked.” They each bowed in turn. He continued, “We are the elder council of Aeunna. We are pleased to finally meet the child of Toren.” Aengar reached out his hand to shake hers, and she shook it numbly. The others made space for Mara as she stepped off the bridge. Rhodi greeted her with a smile, clasping Mara’s hand in hers and patting it softly with her other hand. How can this woman still be alive? Mara wondered, feeling the loose skin shifting as Rhodi patted her hand. She looked older than anyone Mara had ever heard of, but she saw a twinkle in the old woman’s eye. “I’ve still got a few years left in me, young one,” Rhodi said, making Mara’s face flush. Cora stepped up and nudged Mara’s shoulder. “Full-blooded forest dwarves are more like trees than people. Got the lifespan of an oak, this one.” She grinned and winked at Mara, who smiled back. Teddy strode over and wrapped an arm around Cora’s shoulder. “Cora here is the youngest member of the elder council in history. Not really sure she could be called an elder, but…” Cora deftly slipped out of his grip and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder, saying “Yeah, well you certainly could!” Teddy opened his mouth as if to argue, then shrugged in acceptance and continued, “I train the warriors here. Cora was my best fighter—she became the youngest elder due to her prowess in battle.” Cora shrugged and her emerald eyes twinkled. “I like knocking cocky boys down a peg. I could teach you to—” “Alright,” Aengar interrupted, “It’s about time for us to be heading down to the feast. Will you walk with us, Mara?” He beckoned to Mara and shot Cora a disapproving glance. As Mara grudgingly followed the grumpy man, Teddy walked over to Rhodi and offered her his arm. They all headed down the stairs, Teddy and Rhodi setting the pace. On the way down, Freya strode forward to walk with Aengar, and he and the woman discussed Aeunna’s medicine stores. Freya was the head medicine woman, and she was concerned they would need particular herbs before they were out of season. She was requesting a troupe of apprentices be sent to gather it. Mara was glad to have the chance to talk to Cora. She was awed by the youngest elder and wanted to ask her about being a warrior, about spending so much time with her uncle growing up, and about life in Ambergrove. Mara wondered if this had been the woman Teddy was going to go get when she first awoke. Surely, she was. Cora seemed like someone Mara could really talk to—if she only had the nerve. She didn’t have the nerve. Instead, Mara asked Cora about her tattoos. Cora was used to the awe that came with being the Marked Warrior and she never tired of talking about it. There were flesh artists—people those from Earth called tattooists—all over Ambergrove. Cora’s Marks covered her journey as a warrior. There were knots and whorls from each culture she had visited. The mining dwarves had more angular symbols than their forest kin. Each human village had been inspired by an ancient civilization from Earth—Mara recognized Egyptian hieroglyphs, Native American totems, and Ancient Greek figures, among others. Cora had also received a burrobear from the gnomekin, a crystalline shard from the Ice Mountains, a sea serpent from the sea elves, and two special gifts. One was a dragon’s breath triskelion from the isles of the gods. She had received this after befriending every type of dragon in Ambergrove. The other was a brand from the giant lands. Many of these Marks she had received immediately after her great deeds in these lands, which was also how she had earned her place on the elder council. She had fought a terror in every land and won. Every land except the forbidden lands—even she had not wanted to disturb the evil there. This she told to Mara, and all it did was raise more questions. Cora could see this in her eyes and chuckled. “Later, I will explain all this to you Mara. Today is not the day.” “Why do people keep saying that to me?” Mara muttered.