Eldrick woke with a start to the sound of a raucous cry from the Procyvid. Petal, shrieking, shot straight up into the air. Eldrick reaching for his staff noticed it was not where he had left it. Bracing himself to stand, he placed his hand on his staff. Rising, staff in hand, he turned around to see what had caused the cry. What he saw startled him.
On the verge of the clearing was a large dead boar. There appeared to be a single cut along the side of its neck. The blood pooled around the great beast. Eldrick's training kicked in. He had helped Sergei butcher hogs before as part of his training. He didn't have any rope but there was lots of grass and vines. He knew this was a task that was going to take most of the day and he was going to need to remain here for another night.
With efficient motions, he crafted vine and grass ropes. He knew he needed two of the same length. After several hours he had what he needed. Tying the hind hooves in the ropes he threw them over some low-lying branches. Hauling slowly on the ropes, so as not to cause too much friction, he lifted the carcass into the air. Wrapping the ropes around another tree and tying them off he pulled his knife. Now the real work was about to start.
Over the next hour, he gutted the boar feeding the entrails to the procyvid. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how efficiently the procyvid disposed of the offal. They didn't fight over the bits, nor did they pay attention to the carcass hanging in the trees.
Finished with gutting the beast he looked at the bristling hair of the skin.. There was no way he was going to present an unskinned boar to the conclave, it would show a lack of training. He refused to allow that lack to be an excuse for them to dismiss him. He was determined to challenge for the next rank. Noticing his knife had dulled, he refined the edge. With the blade sharp once again, he rose to skin the beast. With unsure hands, he began. His confidence grew as he progressed. With slices every so often to assist in the drawing of the hide whenever it caught. Eventually, he had the hide off in one piece. He was glad he hadn't put any holes in it. Rolling it, he tied it up with a woven rope of sedge grasses.
Looking up he saw a large pile of rabbits. Behind the pile, sat the procyvid, looking pleased with themselves. Eldrick wondered to himself how he knew, but that was the feeling he got when he looked at them. There were more rabbits than he could use in a month. He hoped they hadn't decimated the local population. He knew there was a balance in the world. He looked from the pile of bunnies to the procyvid.
He got a sense of shock as if they couldn't believe he would think that. He took an involuntary step back. Were they, could they be empathic? He was rewarded with excitement. They were, did that mean they could communicate telepathically? Oh, how he wished he had the ability to use telepathy. He'd never been able to do it, except with Sebastian. Oh why wasn't Sebastian here, that would be beneficial. Well, he had work to do.
He set to the task of skinning the furry little beasties. Halfway through the pile, he decided he didn't really need to skin and gut all of them. "I don't need them all, enjoy. Just leave me two skinned ones please."
Bobbing up and down they attacked the two piles, flying off with the excess to eat. Eldrick cleaned the last two and threw the guts to those remaining. Hunger gnawed at him, he had been active for most of the day without eating. The sun was halfway down to the horizon. Remembering there was clay at the bank of the creek, watercress and wild onions, he gathered the greens stuffing the rabbits. Wrapping them in the wide leaves of the reeds, he packed clay around them. Oh, the fire, he hadn't tended it all day. He was going to have to start a new one before he could bake his dinner.
Turning from the creek with the rabbits ready for baking, he saw that the fire hadn't gone out. He stood there confused. The fire should have been out, but a nice cheery blaze roared in the fire pit. Petal was sitting by it, his hands outstretched. He seemed to be steaming.
"Petal did you tend the fire all day?"
"Petal wanted to help. Eldrick was busy and forgot about fire and Petal. Petal is really cold right now. The creek is cold and Petal didn't want to use water in the pot just in case Eldrick needed it."
"Petal, I had forgotten about the second pot of water. It was supposed to be used for breakfast. Wait, have you eaten?"
"Petal ate and foraged berries," indicating the pile sitting beside Sergei's amulet.
"Thank you Petal. It is going to be a couple hours before the rabbits are cooked and I could use something to eat." Placing one rabbit on each side of the fire, Eldrick sat and munched a few berries. "I am sorry I forgot about you."
"Petal not worried about it. Petal knows that soon Eldrick won't be able to pay much attention to Petal. Amaryliss never pays Petal much heed. Always busy and Petal likes sleeping anyway." He grinned at Eldrick. "Guess it will be early morning when we leave? Eldrick needs to reach conclave tomorrow."
Eldrick let out a sigh, was it really the twentieth of Gaelachdearthair? Sergei had made it so far, but not far enough. Why was life so unfair? The only name he knew within the druid order now was that of the Grand Druid, Veldar. This was to be his hardest task yet. Not because he wasn't prepared but because he didn't have his master to vouch for him. As his mind churned, his hands were busy rolling the rabbit hides and making bundles of them, to carry with him. He understood he was going to need to craft winter gear while they were travelling, Best to have some of the things he would need.
Looking around he saw the sun was still high enough that he could do some foraging before nightfall. Taking the empty pot he glanced over at Petal.
"Petal, are there more berries where you got these?" Eldrick indicated what was left of the pile.
"Yes. Petal couldn't carry more, and keep the fire going. Does Eldrick want Petal to show him where?"
"If you wouldn't mind. If we fill the pot we will have more to offer the conclave tomorrow when we arrive."
Petal rose up, landing on Eldrick's shoulder, he indicated the direction. They hadn't gone far when Eldrick saw the large patch of wild blackberry canes. With Petal's help, it didn't take long to fill the pot. With the full pot, they returned to the campsite.
Eldrick was met with a surprise when he got back. Sitting beside his pack was Sergei's. One of the procyvid must have brought it. The sight of it caused him to choke up again. Placing his burden down, he picked up the bag and let the tears flow. He felt he was losing his way all over again. He noticed a piece of parchment sticking out of the top of the bag. Pulling it out he began to read it.
'Veldar, Grand Druid of the Druids of Corrigenda, this is my apprentice Eldrick. As was agreed, he is here to test for the rank of Journeyman. If you are reading this message I am dead, as the omens indicated might be the case. He should have my insignia as proof of his acceptance for the order as well as his own. If you are a man of your word you will examine his abilities to see whether they meet the requirements or not.
Sergei
Master rank of the Druids of Corrigenda'
Eldrick folding the parchment replaced it in Sergei's pack. He knew he would have to carry the extra pack now too. The masters of the order were going to want to examine it to see if he is lying about anything. Having the note on his person, they could say it was a forgery. They still might discredit him. He couldn't dwell on that. He had struggled to get this far, now he wasn't going to let anything stop him. Not even the Grand Druid. Burying the note in the items in the bag, he decided to get some sleep. The thought of sleep triggered the realization he hadn't had 'one of those dreams' in quite some time.
Laying down he spied the second rabbit in the fire and decided to pull it out before it burned. Setting it aside and placing his head on his pack he closed his eyes. He couldn't find sleep as his tears fell. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep.
