Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1) Read online

  Coalescence: Book One

  Out of the Woods

  P. S. Power

  Orange Cat Publishing

  Copyright 2016

  Chapter one

  The only thing that truly prevented everyone in Pine Creek from fleeing for their lives, running away from the strange light in the sky, was that Willum understood what was happening. The craft wasn’t a vast thing for its type. At least he didn't think so. Harley Sams, the schoolmarm, had told them about space craft in their lessons. Even years before, when he’d still attended them.

  This particular craft could be one of the other type then, that didn’t go into the void above, being that it was only about twelve feet wide and twenty long. High for that size, which he could tell once it landed in the middle of the focus stone street.

  Brushing at his hair, Will realized two things. The first was that very simply, important people had come to visit their little village. That meant he looked like he was in a state, for that sort of thing. His black hair was short, his tan face washed and all that, since he worked with wood, not mud. The farmers in the village would be covered in dirt and dust that time of day. They were also commoners, which meant that short of bowing and freezing in place they weren’t going to be able to do much given the people coming.

  The others, most of them, merely stood to the side. Even his master, Elis, was back in the door of the shop, looking ready to run away. Out of the whole village, all fifty of them, only he had managed to walk forward yet.

  Smiling, he nodded to himself.

  “Because I’m certain these fine lords will be highly impressed with the woodworker’s apprentice.” He was, he thought, a decent apprentice wood-smith, with three solid years in at the trade so far, but that didn’t mean anyone would be left speechless over his place in the world.

  Still, he was the one that moved forward, standing as the others got ready to flee for their lives. Not that he didn’t feel a tickle of fear over the strange event. The craft was blue and brown, but clearly made of magic, which was a thing that all in the village had heard tales of but never seen firsthand. These could be tax collectors, or even just someone who had gotten lost or needed water. Which, if that last one was the case, they’d all be fine enough. They had a nice creek that ran sweet and clean year round, after all. Good wells in the area as far as that went, too.

  So he waited, wondering if hiding would prove to be the wiser plan for the day.

  The side of the craft split without a sound. Part of the vehicle moved upward, showing it to be a door, with a few steps at the bottom to let a person climb to the road below them. In this case it was four persons. The first one out looked to be a child, if a decently large fellow for all that. A head shorter than Will, but with blond hair and blue eyes. His skin was semi-dark however. More so than what Will had for himself, though it was close, making them both fairly light that way.

  Behind him came a taller boy. This one patted the younger on the shoulder.

  “Hello! Is this Pine Creek?” That was addressed to him, directly.

  Willum nearly froze for a moment. It was easy to do, since this boy was clearly a royal of some kind. He was light of hair, though slightly darker than the first one that way. The giveaway was that he was rather tall for someone who couldn’t be a true man yet. There was no hair on his face at any rate. Unlike Will who had a full and manly black beard. Even if he wasn’t married.

  Still, after a pause that wasn’t too long, he managed a credible bow, then answered in Standard, which he’d learned in school. Mrs. Sams had insisted they know how to speak properly. She’d always said it was in case they met people from outside the village and needed to make themselves understood. That had always seemed unlikely before. No one came there for anything, other than to walk through. Even that was only a few traveling salesmen, a few times a year. Pine Creek wasn’t anyone’s idea of a destination, however. Even if the road was nice, being packed magical glass. Focus stone, which was actually made of dirt.

  It looked like Willum was going to have to apologize to the teacher when they met again. His thoughts had always been doubtful on the subject. That, it seemed, was wrong.

  As he spoke, a very giant man, also with light hair moved to the street. He turned to give a very small woman, who had rather pale skin, a hand down. She caught his attention, though he didn’t so much as look directly at her. It was the lovely blue gown she wore. The others were dressed in finery like he’d never seen, true. This lady, for all there were women of Pine Creek who were larger, was dressed in a way that would have marked her as a princess if he met her on the road. Tiny or not.

  “This is, indeed, Pine Creek, my lords. How may we be of aid to you this fine day.” He tried to sound polished and not like he’d never used Standard outside of his classes before. Interestingly, the entire group bowed back to him, instead of simply waving him upward. The smaller men, the boys, matched him in how low they went. Like he’d done, a single arm was draped in front of their bodies. It wasn’t a country fashion thing at all, but he’d been taught in school that the way he was doing it at the moment was correct for the high folk.

  They didn’t start beating him on the spot, so it seemed that Mrs. Sams was correct on that idea as well. In fact, the giant man, who was easily the largest individual that Will had ever seen, grinned at him merrily.

  “Well met. I’m Count Thomson. Toverland Thomson. This is my wife, Tamerlane. Countess Thomson, naturally.” He waved, gently, using his giant hand, at each of the boys, naming them very politely. “This is my son, Clemance Thomson. Countier First. Next to him is Dumas Thomson, Countier Second.”

  Then the man stood there for a few seconds, waiting. It took Will nearly that long to catch on to what he was waiting for. His name. It was a thing that the giant wouldn’t really need, most likely, but it was the polite fashion to answer in kind. He thought. That, or he was about to be an idiot, acting more important than he really was.

  “I’m Willum Baker, Count Thomson. A humble wood working apprentice here in Pine Creek. Do you need of anything? Food perhaps? Or water? I think that my father has some fine cider he might be willing to break out, for such esteemed guests as yourselves?” Other than that he couldn’t think of a single thing that these people could want at all. Not there, in the tiny village.

  Interestingly, the small woman smiled at him then.

  “Willum Baker? Teral’s second boy?” She spoke with a very polished sounding accent. At least as far as he knew.

  Will smiled, wondering how she might know that. It wasn’t exactly like the village baker was famous for his Lamas bread or anything. Not that it wasn’t a fine loaf. In fact, it was Will’s favorite kind of food in the whole world. Still, this lady probably wouldn’t need any of that. She was, if he hadn’t been lied to or misunderstood, Countess Thomson. The family was from over a County, but from the maps that made some sense.

  They could be stopping on their way to see Count Lairdgren. The man was hard working, or so the tale went, actually holding a real job as a school master, while also holding the County. It was inspirational.

  He bowed again, going about halfway down, which should show that he was saying yes, rather than not being humble enough. Again, he was kind of working off of his old school lessons.

  “That’s right, Countess Thomson. I…” He nearly froze, like a proper commoner, not suggesting anything at all. It occurred to him however that the woman was small.

  Also holding to light skin, much like his father had. On top of that, the name given had been Tamerlane. While no one in the whole world had ever mentioned her being a Countess, Will had been told of an Aunt Terlee, who was said to be rath
er fine looking. Shy however, according to her older brother. This woman didn’t seem that way much at all.

  “Would you… Be my Aunt?” He got ready for a beating as soon as the words came forth from his betraying lips. It had always been a problem for him. He worked out what might be happening, and spoke without thinking of the consequences enough.

  Even if he was right, it might be a secret, after all. The tiny lady simply nodded, her face happy.

  “He finally told you about us? The others too, or just that I might be coming around for a visit?”

  Will shook his head then.

  “I’m sorry, I was piecing things together, from the names. I hope that…” He didn’t know what to say, but the littlest royal there, Dumas, nodded.

  “Understood. It is kind of obvious, if you’re paying attention. I’m your cousin, which you probably already picked up. Would it be all right for us to take the craft down, do you think? That cart is going to need to get through.” He pointed back down the way, where a single donkey was, indeed, pulling a small wood cart, filled with sticks and probably some wild herbs.

  Langley Cooper was guiding the thing. Moving slowly, since he could probably tell that he might not be allowed to pass easily.

  Will nodded.

  “That would be very good, Countier Thomson. I… Can take you to the bakery?” It was where his father would be working. Or so he figured. The commotion had the man out already, which became visible as soon as the large magical craft vanished into thin air. The big man snagged an amulet from the air deftly. It was a practiced move. One that showed the vehicle wasn’t new to him. At least the fellow was very used to using such things.

  After all, Willum would have let the tile fall to the focus stone below, if it had been him doing it. Even now, knowing where it was being held inside the craft, he might make a mistake. It would take some practice. They all moved to the side of the road then, carefully staying on the edge, since the animal droppings were just cleaned off to the side of the thing. Most of the time. Twice a year they all had to move out for a day and load wagons with the waste, which was used on some of the fields to make the plants grow larger and faster.

  Right now standing off the road meant being in muck, so the royals didn’t do that. He could understand it. He didn’t either, since it would get his shoes dirty. Interestingly, his father, who was in a light tan homespun shirt and dark black trousers, came over to them, a corn cob pipe between his teeth. Unlit. When he got to them, he bowed, doing it properly. A thing that Will hadn’t known he understood how to do at all.

  Willum got ready to translate for the others, but his father just sighed and shook his head. Smiling. Then he spoke in easily understandable Standard. A thing that Will also hadn’t known the other man would have ever heard of doing.

  “This will make it a bit hard to hide you all from the family. You get that, right?”

  Tamerlane, the Countess, laughed, covering her mouth with a delicately gloved hand. That was a blue color, lighter than her dress. It went under the lace of the sleeve.

  “Sorry about that, Tal. I’m afraid I have some news?” She seemed happy enough to be there.

  His father winced anyway.

  “Has… Someone died?”

  That got the large man to shake his head, instantly.

  “Nothing like that, thank all that is. The other kind of news? Dareg Canton… Tor’s son? He’s getting married to Princess Karina. She’s also the Ancient of Mars now, I don’t know if you’ve heard tell of that kind of thing?”

  Interestingly, there was a nod, from both Will and his da. It had come up in school, so had been discussed at dinner several times. It was fascinating, how people had used magic to go into space and even live there. That there were people who were functionally immortal was known now as well. Like the wizards.

  Tor, Timon and their sister, Queen Tiera.

  “Oh.” He spoke the word out loud, glancing at the people who had come. The smallest of them grinned. Then he nodded, as if he understood it all.

  Worse, when he spoke it was kind of clear that he truly did.

  “Right. Teral Baker, Tamerlane, Torrance, Todderick, Tiera, Timon, Terrance, Tessalyn, Tara, Tenet and Taman. Our family. Most of them are wizards, several hold high titles and all of the names begin with the same letter. Can you repeat that back to me?” It was an odd question to ask a person that you just met.

  He did it, of course. That got the small woman to nod at him, smiling.

  “Most have to study to get that down. Anyway, we might want to move from the street? Also, we should at least address this with your children at hand. It will impact them, I fear.”

  Willum didn’t know why that was, unless they needed people to bake for the wedding. It didn't take a genius to understand that a princess getting married would have a large crowd to feed. They’d grown up working in a bakery and were family, so it made sense for them to be called in to lend a hand that way.

  They walked the short distance to the bake shop. It was a good sized space, made largely of wood and focus stone. A lot of places in town had been rebuilt, after the giant storms of the last decade. After the first one of those, his father had managed to get hold of a dozen earth forming devices. That had never made a lot of sense, given there was no way their village could have afforded or merited such things. Now, given who his family was, it kind of seemed right.

  That Willum had never put it all together before had him shaking his head a bit. The information had really been there. It just hadn’t come together for him. He felt slow and stupid for a moment as they walked, sticking to the hard packed, glasslike, path. There were no droppings anywhere near the bakery, of course. For that matter, he took the task of cleaning up around the wood shop as well each day. It made it nicer for them. Not that he worked every day doing that kind of thing. Pine Creek didn't need that much by way of woodworking. It was simply that they also didn’t need five people to run the bakery. His older brother, Carlisle, would be inheriting it, so Carl did most of that kind of thing each day for them.

  Hopefully Diana, his little sister, would manage to marry soon. She worked in the shop each day, but still had the kingdom provided lessons in the mornings. As it was, they would have had to go and get her, except that the school had clearly let out early that day. Probably because of the magical craft having settled in the road.

  She stood back, not moving toward the bakery at first. Not until Will waved for her to follow along. Even then she kind of kept to the back, well behind the giant man and his family. Not knowing what was going on, that made sense to him. Apparently to Dumas as well, who noticed the waving, turned and did the same thing.

  “Is this cousin Diana?”

  The door to the bakery was made of painted wood. It was red, which was fine seeming for the otherwise tiny village. The hinges were well oiled, so didn’t squeak as they entered. A small bell rang from above them however.

  “That’s right. Let’s see… S’Carl! Vitors. Faly co’to see da.” Willum called out in Home Tongue, since as far as he knew Carlisle didn’t really speak anything else.

  Mrs. Sams had insisted that he and Diana learn all the major tongues. It wasn’t that hard, but for some reason Carl had been skipped that way, even if he was only a year and a half older than Will was. He’d been in the school at the same time, but hadn’t been pushed even half as hard.

  Willum had always figured that it was due to the fact that he was going to have to make his own way in the world, while his older brother would be handed a shop, eventually. Also, and he didn’t love thinking it, he was smarter than Carl was. That wasn’t him being mean either, he didn’t think. His brother was bright enough, but it took him longer to come to the right answer. Like a regular person might.

  That kind of thing was always simple for him however. Diana was normally right there along with him as far as that kind of thing went, as well. If anything she was probably a bit smarter than he was. It was close enough that it didn't bother him
most of the time.

  Thinking about that, and Mrs. Sams, he glanced at the Count, then his own tiny aunt. Things clicked into place for him. The inside of his head felt thick as it happened, slow. Anger tried to crawl into his aspect then, as he considered the whole thing.

  “So, Mrs. Sams was placed here to teach us?”

  The small woman smiled, then tapped at her throat. The others stepped back, except the small one. He just nodded.

  “That makes sense. It isn’t a thing to lose composure over. Can you pull back? Close your eyes and relax? You’re moving into a rage. I do note that you haven’t struck anyone yet, however, which means that you might be its master, if you can summon the will.”

  The boy, who was both helpful and a tiny bit annoying, kept speaking. His voice was high pitched, but not too bad, since he was large for his apparent age. After about ten minutes, he was allowed to open his eyes. Everyone else was gone. Except for his cousin, Dumas.

  The kid made a playful face.

  “I don’t have the rage yet, myself. Clem either. I’ve seen Cousin Dareg have to do this a few times, however. Does this happen often to you?”

  Willum shook his head.

  “Not really. I tend not to get angry at things. I think it must have been the shock of it all. The new family and who they are. Thank you, for your assistance.”

  That just got a simple head tilt.

  “Not a problem. I think everyone went back this way? If you feel up to it? If this happens again… Well, we can just leave the room. I doubt it will, to be honest. Most that start casting aura can’t stop it. I hear that some of the Baker family can?”

  He had no clue what the kid was going on about. What he did have was a horrible headache. That had taken place many times before however. Now that he considered it, that happened each time he got too frustrated or upset with something. That first one wasn’t all that common, but it really did happen.

  Especially when he’d first started wood working.

  Now it was easier, but three years before it had taken him weeks to even be able to make simple chests and chairs.