33 Anchor (2/2)

When Old Thane went back in the cottage right as first light broke and Charles and his building crew came by, Li stood at the main road, watching the building crew work on the stall and the extensions to the gardens. He decided to himself that he would lay off the eldritch spells. He would stick with regular Druidry if he could as it was jarring to find how quickly and significantly the eldritch powers impacted him.

'Is something troubling you, master?' communicated Zagan. He sat by Li, staring straight ahead as Remy and Rosa hugged him from each side.

Charles had brought his children to work today as they had insisted on wanting to see Zagan, probably to alleviate their grief over losing their own canine companion.

'It's been a little jarring, feeling the effects of using my higher-order spells. It almost feels like I'm a stranger in my own body,' said Li. He looked as the children tugged at Zagan's fur. The demon did not glance at them or pay attention to them at all, instead just sitting stiff and straight. ”And you? How are you holding up under all this harassment?'

'Fine. The children respect my boundaries. They do not tell me to sit or roll over or perform any other inane trick, and so I tolerate their play.' Zagan closed his eyes. 'Master, it is truly a matter of perspective. Should you embrace your higher existence, then it will be that your humanity will become the foreign presence.'

Li nodded. 'Right, but I didn't expect things to move so quickly. I've anchored my humanity on Old Thane, right? Then he's the last person I should be feeling these changes around, and yet I still do.'

'A testament more to the strength of your humanity than its weakness. Family defined your humanity, and the old human symbolizes family – there could have been no better anchor. Understand, master, that when you channel the full might of your Elder being, you are calling upon forces so primordial and massive in scale that your humanity may as well be a grain of sand in a vast desert to them. That your anchor still works so well is an impressive feat.'

Li sighed. He accepted that he was going to lose his humanity, but he didn't want to cast if off before Old Thane passed. At the least, he wanted to give the old man a familiar, human compassion and respect to send him off when the time came. Were he to become whatever it was he was becoming, then the best he could do would be to fake such emotions, and he didn't want that.

Zagan's ears perked up and he stood on his paws, gently shaking the children off. They, sensing that Zagan wanted space, shrunk back, watching the demon with quizzical eyes. He stared across the main road, towards an incoming figure.

'Master, shall I deal with that?'

Li cocked his head. 'No, not at all. I guess I've been expecting her?'

The proctor from the herbalist's exam was running up the main road, her dirt brown robes trailing behind her and gathering up dust. She waved her arm in the air, her hand clutching at a tightly wound scroll.

”Whew,” she huffed when she arrived in front of Li. She brushed amber locks out of her eyes and took in several deep breaths until she regained her composure. She looked at Li with surprising energy in her face – a marked contrast compared to the day of the test when it seemed nothing would keep her from her sleep. ”Under the light of Soleil, I hereby officially grant you…bah, to hell with formality.”

Then, all of a sudden, she bowed so deeply that she almost bent at ninety degrees at her waist. Her arm extended forwards, holding the scroll out. ”Here is your license, and please, now that I know you are one of the last great forest spirits, hear my request. I have nowhere to turn to - my woods and my guardian spirit have long been razed to the ground – so though I may be but a lowly treant, please find it within your heart to take me in as your apprentice and one of your roots.”