Lost in Words

I think mom got tired of my sad moods at home. She suggested strongly to go out and travel. So mom send me on my way and after a bit of travelling about in this shadow i found myself a job. I did not again want to join an army, that is something i couldn't handle now.

The job i'm fulfilling now is just protection. A group of scholars have hired a group of us to see them across a land it is about 2 weeks travelling.

But seeing that these folks stop and talk to anyone willing to share a story it might take alot longer. I don't mind though some others are complaining.

A week is passing by and we are way behind on our journey. The protection leader is pleading with the scholars to keep moving at night to make up for lost time. But the scholars refuse and instead offer more payment to stick with them longer. The next day some of the protection detail have left. I can't blame them. I wouldn't make that choice but they are freelancers and own their own time. What the protection leader told me is that most don't mind these kind of protection details. Most of the time nothing happens. But there are groups who believe that the old ways and the stories should be destoryed that it stands in the way of progress. a whole political and religious group travels the land and intercepts any written word predating certain events in the past.

In the next days i got to talking with Emmanuel one of the older scholars leading this trip. I had asked him what made them stop at every village or camp we walk past.

He told me they were record keepers, and not ones with the ability to predict the future so they would not know when and where important stories or events are created. So it is up to them to record all what they hear and see.

I was impressed by the vast amount of work that would mean. And since that talk Emmanuel showed me some of the books. Past events. Some would probably at first seem insignificant but when placed along other events you can see the cause and effect. The ripples in the water.

Further along the journey it was just me travelling with them. The rest of the protectors had bowed out of service. But so far they had not really been needed anyway. We had dodged one of those religious book hating nuts by hiding in the forest surrounding us. Thank the unicorn for my training as a ranger.

We reached the foot of a mountain and on one of the ridges just above the treeline is there cloister. We took a rest for the day and the next day we would start the climb up the mountain. In the evening i was keeping watch. Emmanuel sat next to me and handed me a mug of something warm and strong.

He asked me for my worries. I gestured to the skies. Tomorrow might be a rough walk in the mountains. The temperature is dropping and once those clouds close in we have bad weather from all sides.

He nodded and smiled.

If that is how the story will go then that is that. As long as some of reach the cloister we can record the story.

I was q bit dumbfounded by his seeming fatalistic view.. but thinking about it. It's not strange, they live for their stories books maps and records. And when one perishes, that just means another story is written to its end.

I started to like that.

The climb was as expected cold, stormy a real hardship. 8 of us started the climb up. 3 reached the cloister. Most fell down sides of slippery cliffs. One didn't wake up after a particular cold night. And one was felled by lightning. Two scholars and me. At the end i carried one of them. I guess due to my stronger physique and endurance the cold didn't bother me as much. I had even given my cloak to Emmanuel so he could keep walking.

They allowed me to stay for a while warm up, get my strength back. I gratefully accepted the invitation. The days passed and i was mostly found with a book near a fire to read. A week had gone by and in passing Emmanuel asked me if i was willing to write my version of the story down. I did. He also asked me to write my other stories down which i had shared with him during the trip.

So a week became a month. A month became a year and by now i was reading writing and making connections in the stories. Ordening the books.

I finally was able to put aside my own worries and lost myself in books....

After Emmanuel died i felt it was time to go back home. I have learned so much and will never forget his teachings.