Ancient of Dunáya Chapter 3: Stone

Such greed engenders something awful in those who drink from the pool and Become.
---Wesley of Dunáya

She fingered the brown cloth Mona had made for her and felt little weaves within little weaves. Within the weaves she felt life-sparks, different from food life-sparks; Kareth smiled that she could already distinguish food from clothing. She touched the table, and distinguished the life-sparks within that, then touched the whitewashed wall and felt colder, slower life-sparks. This was exciting, and she felt everything in her home: the thatch, the floor, the books, even the dirt outside. Each thing she touched was unique in its way, yet seemed similar, part of something greater. Part of the pool. Part of the Creators themselves.

The sparks of the trees and grass outside felt more alive, more like they sang, than did the life-sparks of other things she had touched. She sensed life in them beyond the sparks. A black insect crawled up a blade of grass; she put her finger in its way so it would crawl on her. She felt more than life, but awareness, its ability to respond, to move at its own will. Different levels of life, then. The rock, the wood, the grass, the insect.

She touched her own hair; these life-sparks were different, always changing, rearranging themselves. Sparks that shined bright one moment dimmed the next.

She followed the path to the pool and stood over the water again. Her reflection changed and changed and she wondered who she would be, what she would look like. She kneeled and peered at her face, willing it to not change. Her face remained for three breaths as a purple and green striped sphere; black hair spiked every which way, and black eyes peered at her from the pool. She laughed at the image, so unlike Mona’s, and let her face take on whatever appearance it wanted.

She touched the pool’s surface, which remained perfectly still no matter how she moved her finger or hit it. Just underneath, the fierce currents pulled, and she tensed to keep her finger motionless. Life-sparks swirled wildly with the flow, all those she had felt in objects, and more. The water seemed to contain the substance of everything she knew, everything she would ever know.

She stood again, determined to make something. The clothing Mona made for her fit loosely; it looked nothing like Mona’s dress, but rather like something in which to carry rocks. Kareth didn’t think she would Become a rock, so she pulled the dress over her head and clenched it in one hand. She had seen Mona make it, and the new Ancient felt the weaves within the fabric. She saw them move in and out of each other, saw their life- sparks, and asked them to copy themselves for her. She closed her eyes and asked again.

Nothing. Mona had made it look so easy. She forced the image of the weaves and life-sparks into her other hand, saw them there in her mind, and her fingers twitched as they grasped something. Opening her eyes revealed a few ragged strands of cloth; when she held them out to inspect, they dissipated in a cloud of dust. So much for her first attempt.

Kareth looked at the sky; light had disappeared. It was night, and it had been day when she emerged from the pool. Night time was beautiful, but so was day. Little white specks, stars, littered the sky above the trees. She stretched her fingers to the stars: the places life-sparks emerge.

Weak, she decided to go back to the house. It was dark inside but for a subtle silver light from the windows, only faintly outlining objects in the room where Mona had disappeared. Kareth stumbled through the dark to a dim rectangle in the wall where the door to the other room had been, avoiding items on the floor. She wondered how people normally got around in the dark.

A faint light slanted in through a window, revealing a fluffy bed beneath it. Heading for the bed, she tripped over something on the floor, a thick cloth she recognized as a rug, and regained her balance. Kareth sat on the bed; the room was dark despite the window, and only shadows cluttered the walls and floor. She lay down because the bed seemed fit for the purpose. Before she knew what was happening, light and life-sparks swirled in her, and her mind floated soothingly. She fell into sleep.

---

Brightness hit her through the lace-curtained window, and she smiled. She lay on a fluffy white bed; a bookshelf filled one wall with twenty-six books of varying thicknesses and scripts. A tall stand mirror stood in the corner next to a desk cluttered with paper and more books. A fireplace faced her near the foot of the bed; Kareth recognized fireplace but wondered what fire was, something she’d never seen.

The dress Mona had made lay on the floor where Kareth had dropped it when she tripped in the dark. She grasped it in one hand and studied it closely, visually and tactilely, until she remembered its every detail. She then thought of it in her other hand and it moved to her other hand. “Well, now I know how Mona got me the nectarine.”

Instead of thinking of it in her other hand, she thought of a copy of it in her other hand, and a copy appeared. The original dropped to the wood floor as she held the new one out in front of her proudly. “Now I have two ugly dresses. But I made this one.” She pulled it on over her head; the mirror reflected things so she looked at herself in it. “If I tighten the waist, and lengthen the hem, I think I would like it much better.” She thought of the dress in those terms, and it shrank and stretched to fit.

Her skin changed in shades of green and her hair in shades of purple and she wondered if humans had green skin like hers, or if they were brownish-pink like Mona.

She smiled at herself and went outside to see the morning.

The air smelled fresh, and birds sang in the forest. She walked around the dwelling and found the nectarine tree outside her bedroom window. The branches were too high for her to reach fruit, so she imagined a bright nectarine in her hand and one appeared. She bit into it, and the fruit disintegrated tastelessly. She had made the fruit, badly at that, instead of moving one from a branch. She thought of a specific fruit in her hand, and it disappeared from the branch and appeared in her hand. She bit it and returned inside.

In her room she pulled down a book, the thickest one because she thought it might be written by that thirty-generationer that Mona had mentioned. Wesley of Dunáya the spine said. Kareth flipped through the pages and opened it at random, to one of the later pages.

I haven’t Become. How long will I suffer alone? Humans come and go and curse themselves or bless themselves, it’s all the same now. If only I could know what the Creators want! I’ve served the humans, helped them become, and I sit here alone. I’ve become something great, I feel it, what more can I do? My life lacks something, and I’m weak. Where is the completeness I long for? Are there Ancients in other towns that could help me? I can’t get there… I can’t leave the pool…

The sleeves fell off Kareth’s dress, then the neckline sagged, and the entire dress disintegrated. She grunted in annoyance and threw the nectarine pit onto the floor. She returned the book to where she had found it nestled among volumes, then went outside for fresh air to create a new dress.

In memory she found the cloth weave she had made, and compared it to her memory of the cloth weave Mona had made. The life-sparks Mona had made in the cloth loved each other, while those Kareth had made didn’t know each other. Hers had held hands, so to speak, for only a short while. If they didn’t love each other, there was no continuing. Take the extra step to strengthen them, Mona had said. Strengthen them with love.

She stepped into the forest and her skin changed from the dark green of moss to the sunlight-touched green of the leaves. Kareth tried again, this time imagining the life-sparks hugging each other like Mona had hugged her. Only a few cloth strands appeared on her body. They were tight and stable, but did nothing to cover her. She thought of more strands, and more, and ropes circled her and tightened, then slid off into the grass.

A figure appeared from among the trees. It looked like an Ancient, in that it had arms, legs, and a head. Its hair was dark orange and hung to its shoulders, its skin was pale brownish-pink, like Mona’s, and she sensed that it was a man. Her heart fluttered and she laughed. “Are you a human?” she said. “Mona said you were like us…”

He looked her up and down and smiled. “Can you tell me how to get to the Well of Desire? Surely such an… enchanting figure like you must be the Maiden of the Well.”

“Enchanting? Thank you, that’s a very nice compliment. But what are you talking about? Oh, you must mean the pool. I’m so excited, if you’re a human. You’re the first one I ever met. Follow me, and I can show you where the pool is.” She walked. The man followed a little more closely than she liked as his hands brushed her back, so she walked faster. His life sparks didn’t feel welcome. “I’ve never heard it called ‘The Well of Desire,’ but then, I emerged only yesterday.” She looked back at him; in the semi-light of the trees, his eyes appeared black. They looked at her body when she spoke. “What do you want with it?”

“Is it… required that I tell you, my enchanting Maiden?”

Light in a small clearing illuminated the man’s features, which appeared irregular, but that may have been due to his expression. Scars enveloped his face, his hair hung dull and oily, and tears and stains covered his clothing. Kareth shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Is it true that your kind live forever? Have you always been Maiden of this well?”

“I already told you that I emerged yesterday. Do all humans have bad hearing?”

He didn’t seem to be listening to her, as his eyes never met her face. Something about the man made her uncomfortable, something about his life-sparks and the fact that he failed to listen to her. She stopped, turned around and faced him. “I’m glad that you’re a human, but I want you to listen to me. Don’t touch me unless you ask first.”

The man’s eyes widened, but he smiled, stepped back, and bowed his head. “As you say, my Maiden. Please lead the way.”

“Thank you. I’m Kareth. I’m new here.”

“New? You must mean you’ve been here for a thousand years.”

“No, I emerged yesterday.”

He flourished a hand. “As you say. I’m Logan.” He kept his hands to himself, but still walked closer than she liked. She quickened her steps again, but kept looking back. The ground felt rough at her feet. Some cloth to cover them would be welcome. Branches and shrubs brushed against her legs, and she understood why humans would like protective clothing.

“Will you give me what I wish?” he said.

“No. What do you mean?”

Logan smiled and flipped a branch out of the way. “And what are you, my beauty? Do your kind always have green skin?”

“I’m an Ancient, and I think we can have whatever skin we want.”

They came to the clearing with the pool, and the man fell to his knees. “So this is it! I’ve searched for this half my life. Can I really have anything I want?”

“I don’t know,” she said, feeling increasingly uncomfortable by the man’s manner. “What are you supposed to do?”

He rose from the grass, and approached the pool, collapsing onto its stones. He stirred his finger in it, smirking. His laughter felt nothing like Mona’s. It was cold, and didn’t include Kareth. “You play with me. Legend says I drink from it, and all things I desire are mine.”

“What do you want?” she said again. Kareth watched him in fascination. She was to learn from humans, Mona had said.

“Will you really grant me anything? I want wealth, power, beauty, and… women,” he said, still stirring the water wavelessly. His finger in the water vibrated.

“I don’t think it works that way, that you wish into it and you get whatever you want. What do you want to become? What would complete you?”

He smiled. “I want to become a wealthy man.” He looked at her again. “I want any woman, never to be rejected by any flesh for the rest of my life! To have the powers of the Creators, even… no, surely that is too much.” The man laughed hysterically as he cupped the water in his hand. He drank and the water bubbled and dripped from his mouth; he fell back exultantly into the grass, arms outstretched, wild eyed. Sunlight, brilliant everywhere else, dulled on him. She knelt away from him, watching. He turned his head toward her. “Are you flesh, my Maiden of the Well?”

“Yes.” She edged back.

“Wealth at my fingertips.” He said, laughing. He sat up and looked around the clearing. “Where is it?”

“Your wealth? I don’t know. Were you expecting it to fall from the sky? Because I don’t know how to do that yet. I… can’t even…”

“Your beauty dazzles me. Let’s see if my wish was granted.” The man sprang onto her. She stiffened, her life-sparks slowed and she turned into stone.

He struggled with her, tried to pull her body flat, but it wouldn’t move from a kneeling position. His touch was cold. His face was red and sweaty, his features bloated,more ugly than before. His life sparks touching her even through the numbing stone made her mind recoil.

He shrieked, fell back, and looked down between his legs where jewels and liquid gold spilled from holes in his trousers. His eyes widened, and he clutched his stomach. When he spoke, it was a squeak that came from his lips. “To lose that to gain wealth? Is my pleasure only in gold and jewels now? What curse?"

“You asked for wealth,” Kareth reminded him. She had returned to flesh, though her skin was gray, like stone. She scooted away from him. “Does everyone turn to stone when you touch them?”

“Shut up, you hag!” Tears mixed with the sweat on Logan’s face. “Why have you cursed me? I spent my life to find this. To find your… your pit of doom.”

“It wasn’t me. Besides, you got what you asked for, mostly. Did you want more gold? I’m sure you can have as much as you like. You can come back for more if you can’t carry it all. I even have a bag I can give you. Do you have far to go? I suppose you do because you spent so long to find my pool.”

He lay back in the grass and chuckled. “Yes, I spent my life. And now, without that, my life is a curse.” He leaped at her again, but this time his hands circled her throat. His fingers smoked violently and burned to nothing. He shrieked.

She jumped away from him and he rolled into the grass. “I’m so sorry!” she said. “I don’t know why that happened, but I’m sure you deserved it. I told you not to touch me …” Once again he didn’t seem to be listening; he curled into a ball and wept. “I’m sorry your time at this pool hasn’t been pleasant,” she continued. “My time with you hasn’t been pleasant, either. You must have misunderstood what the pool was, though. You drink from it, and you Become. That’s what Mona said. I tried to tell you. Yes, it works differently with humans, but still you Become. It’s not a get-whatever-you-want type of thing, and I’m not sure where you got that idea, because I’m new here. Would you like a bag to carry your gold and jewels in so you can leave sooner? Well, I guess you can’t carry without hands, but we can figure something out.”

“I don’t want your smiting bag,” said Logan. “I don’t want anything from you. Let the Creators burn you to ashes! Just let me die in peace.”

She felt a little relieved he didn’t want anything from her. “All right. Yes, Mona did say something about death. That’s when you can go back to wherever you came from, and meet the Creators. How exciting. Where do humans come from?”

“Now you’re warning me that I’m about to face the Creators’ doom? Leave me, or I’ll curse you for sure!”

“I’m not going to leave. This is my pool. There are plenty of other places that you can go back. I mean, die. Does everyone die after they Become? No, that wouldn’t make sense. Everyone must be different. Still, it must be wonderful to meet the Creators.” She thought of the stars creating life sparks.

His face turned wan, and he lay helplessly in the grass. Red and white blotches covered the ends of his arms; skin flopped where hands used to be. “Will you curse me again if I stay? I am weak.”

“You got what you asked for.” She backed away. “No, I’ve never cursed anyone. It wasn’t me. The water has special properties. Did you know you’re the first human I ever met? I hope they’re not all like you.”

She ran through the trees to her home. His yell, “You’ll regret what you’ve done to me, bitch!” followed her. She dashed inside, crumpled onto her bed and shook so that the floor rattled, his bloated face filling her mind.

Images courtesy of:
ilmupengetahuan.net
pintrest: "Green Woman"
customironandstone.com

Don't miss Chapters 1 and 2:
1:The Well of Life
2:Dress