78 Seeds and Scrolls (1/2)
”Explain,” said Li. A crease lined his brows. This first harvest, he had kept an incredibly close eye on the grain to see whether it had any harmful effects. Though he doubted this, because the duchess would immediately know he would give them a visit, and it seemed she actively tried to prevent provoking him at absolutely all costs.
In that regard, Li did acknowledge the duchess. She had spent decades in absolute power, presumably also used to holding the strongest military force in the entirety of her duchy. That kind of power usually went to people's heads, made them more reckless, more prideful. But she kept an unassailable cool, never once attempting to challenge or step on Li's toes.
Li highly doubted the duchess would have given him probably cause to confront her with these seeds. It was far too obvious and heavy-handed.
Iona picked apart one golden seed from the tiny pile and held it to her eye. Her brown pupil widened as she cocked her head.
”In the sense that I hold no knowledge of this grain,” said Iona. ”And I have lived many years both north and south, taking in the unique song of the forests in each land. This grain holds no song that I know of, no basic tune representative of any region.”
”I see.” Li nodded and then asked the more pressing question. ”Can you tell if it's dangerous any?
His voice was relatively casual. He sincerely doubted the duchess would ever make it dangerous, but if she had, then he would have preferred that. A good excuse to confront her.
Iona let the single kernel drop back into the pile. She shook her head. ”Not at all, no. I should be more accurate, yes. The wheat is not entirely alien. Here, why don't you try?”
She pinched a kernel and walked it over to the counter, dropping it in front of Li. She then produced another kernel from her palm, but this one was different, a little darker and less golden, and put it side by side with the duchess's grain.
”Hm?” Li looked at her questioningly.
Iona pointed a pale and thin finger to the two kernels and smiled. ”You wished to learn how to cultivate your nature as a forest spirit, no? I have always found that an on-hands method is the most effective to teaching.”
”Now where'd that overly respectful tone go?” said Li as a joke. He could see now that in the way that Iona smiled and how her voice immediately became more confident, rising from its usually meek and energy-deprived husky whisper, that she had some passion in teaching.
Which made sense, considering she was willing to set her prejudices against mortals aside to teach them the olden ways of herbalism.
Iona immediately wiped her smile away and bowed her head. ”Forgive me, O guardian.”
Li waved his hand. ”I was just joking. Now, tell me what I'm supposed to do.”
Iona nodded, her smile returning, though fainter than before. ”Hold out both your hands.”
Li complied, and Iona dropped a kernel in each hand. ”Close your hands around them. Then listen as you tried before with the flowers.”
Li closed his hands around the kernels, feeling them dig against his flesh, but he had a question before he did this. ”Before I start, I need to know. The guardian you previously worked with must have been something similar to a god, no?”
Iona cocked her head. ”Dagda? Yes, he was divine, as are all guardians. The burden of an entire ecosystem cannot fall upon mortal minds and shoulders, after all.”
”You know the four gods, don't you?”
”Most certainly. The primal ones, yes, though to them, spirits such as ourselves are not truly beholden to, though we do give them homage by utilizing the magic they founded.”
”Would you say your guardian, this Dagda, was just as much a god as them?”
”I cannot say for certain. I am far too young to have met them. But divinity wise, I should say Dagda was just the same as the four gods, merely differing in the scale of their power and domain. Where guardians such as Dagda shepherded forests, the primal ones shepherded the entire world, planting the seeds of magic and civilization.”
She shook her head. ”It is a shame that the primal ones did not foresee that some of the seeds of civilization they planted would grow so rotten.”
”I see. At the crux, though, they're all gods just the same. Then tell me, did Dagda ever…disappear? Ascend to a different realm? Has any forest spirit?”
”No such case. Guardians wither with the centuries, but their roots are always there to replace them.” Iona looked at Li with concern laced with fear. ”What is the matter? Do you wish to leave this plane of existence? If so, I am ready to beg that you stay. The world needs you, and-”
Li shook his head, quelling her mounting concern and panic. ”No, I have every intention to stay here. Don't worry about it. I know what I need to know now.”
He was curious about the world's exact mechanisms. He wanted to know what he had to do in order to get whisked back to Valhul, and this ruled out divinity. Or at the least, forest spirit related divinity. Perhaps it was his eldritch side that allowed the world to sense him?
In any case, he had ruled out one potential variable, leaving him free to exercise the powers of his spirithood.
”Let's get back to the lesson,” said Li. He didn't give Iona time to ask him questions, not wanting to needlessly worry her. ”I have a feeling I know where you're going with this. You want me to try and listen to each kernel and then figure out the differences, right?”
Iona paused for a few seconds before nodding, accepting Li's decision. ”Yes, that is precisely so.”