Janus also learned that the Five Realms were not likely to be the only ones that were imminently coming under the shadow of assault from the Unifier. From some trading exchanges with other people still friendly to the Five Realms, Ayenwatha had learned that the far-reaching power of the Unifier was already moving to conquer another large kingdom that had steadfastly refused Him.
It was a realm located across the waters of the ocean to the south of the Five Realms, called the Kingdom of Saxany.
The Unifier, from His citadel in Avanor, had also begun turning His eyes towards a land known as Midragard. Janus could sense the marked distress that Ayenwatha felt at this prospect in particular, quickly recognizing that Ayenwatha felt an affinity for the Midragardans.
The people of Midragard were apparently masters of the oceans, great seafarers whose main homelands were located much farther to the south. They had numerous settlements stretching far beyond the main lands of Midragard, even including some on islands located just offshore of the Five Realms to the east.
The seafaring people, according to Ayenwatha, were legendary warriors and traders, whose travels in war and trade had taken them to many foreign lands.
Once ferocious raiders of the tribal lands, the Midragardans were now in a longstanding state of friendship with the five tribes. The enmity that formerly existed between Ayenwatha’s people and the Midragardans had ebbed over time, finally disappearing as open trade replaced violence.
The relationship had grown strong, bringing the Five Realms more than just material items of trade. The Midragardans brought Ayenwatha word of rumors and happenings from many distant lands. It had been Midragardans that had brought Ayenwatha the tidings of war involving Saxany.
While Janus could sense that such reports were troubling enough to Ayenwatha, he understood that the sachem’s own concerns were very immediate in nature. Ayenwatha’s war party had been tracking and shadowing the marching army beyond the border for the better part of the last two days. Prior to encountering Janus’ group, the war band had been very close to returning back to the Onan village called the Place of Far Seeing, where the eternal Sacred Fire of the Five Realms was kept. This village, as Janus learned, also happened to be Ayenwatha’s own home village.
Ayenwatha’s war party been sent out by the village to learn everything that they could of the enemy forces, in order to gain as much information as possible for the consideration of future councils.
There had been some fighting over the course of the two days, though none of the enemy that had been encountered by Ayenwatha’s band had escaped the forest. Janus had seen the evidence of those melees in the form of the gruesome scalps being carried by a few of the warriors.
It had been late in that very morning that the war party had become aware of the seven humans’ presence within the woods. They had come upon their campsite not long thereafter.
Derek perked up and drew closer when Ayenwatha spoke of how the war party had fanned out and quickly surrounded the campsite, moving into place right after the Wanderer, as Ayenwatha referred to the old man, had departed. Oddly, they had not encountered the Wanderer as they had closed in and encircled the seven foreigners, though there were only a handful of moments between the old man’s departure and their emergence. Once they had taken their positions, Ayenwatha’s warriors had been content to stay concealed for a few more moments, as they observed the unusually attired, strange interlopers.
Janus was sure that the revelation of the warriors’ successful encroachment and surveillance was of great interest to his friend, who prided himself on his own senses and acute alertness.
“A whole war party… encircled us, and crept up, without anything seeming remotely amiss,” Derek murmured to Janus, the appreciation for the skills of the tribal warriors very evident in his voice.
Janus realized how lucky they were to all be wearing their own clothes. As Ayenwatha explained it, their unfamiliar attire was the sole factor that had stayed the hand of the war band from killing them outright. Their highly unusual clothing had prevented the tribal warriors from instantly mistaking the seven to be some sort of scouting offshoot from the nearby enemy forces.
After the brief observation, Ayenwatha had come to the fortunate decision that there was a real possibility that Janus and his companions were not aligned with the forces of the Unifier. It was at that juncture that Ayenwatha and the warriors had made their presence known.
The thought of how precariously close Janus and the others from his world had come to dying that day was quite sobering to contemplate.
Janus and his companions were not the only ones hungry for new information. It did not take long for Ayenwatha to begin probing for answers to his own questions, regarding the seven and their recent experiences.
Janus related in detail his own interactions with the Wanderer. It was clear that the tribal people regarded the Wanderer with great esteem, holding a deep respect for his wisdom in particular.
While frustrating to Janus, Ayenwatha offered nothing specific about the old man’s nature, even though Janus could clearly sense that there was much more that Ayenwatha could have said about the Wanderer. Janus felt a tantalizing urge to try and press Ayenwatha on the matter, but then thought better of it.
Janus did learn that the Wanderer was known to possess great powers, gifts that Ayenwatha said came from the One Spirit, which the Wanderer used to help humankind and all of creation. Ayenwatha was insistent to assure Janus and the others that the Wanderer was no shaman or witch, and that his powers had nothing at all to do with dark magic.
Janus had already noticed that Ayenwatha’s war band had shown a pressing interest in determining whether Janus and his companions were shamans or witches. The determination of their status in that regard had appeared to be of the utmost importance to the tribal contingent. The seven had been carefully evaluated by the quartz-holding warriors, and had been deemed blameless of such pursuits.
That judgement, in Janus’ estimation, had also been immensely fortunate for his group, with dire consequences had it gone otherwise. With the very adamant declaration of the Wanderer’s full innocence in relation to dark magic, the truth was made very clear to Janus. The tribal culture that Ayenwatha was from regarded witches, shamans, and dark sorcerers as baleful adversaries, in a very hostile sense. The practicing of dark magic was most certainly among the most serious of transgressions in the eyes of the tribal people, an odious and unforgivable affront to their culture and beliefs.
A few of the other warriors in the immediate vicinity of Janus and the others had then begun to relate their own tales concerning the Wanderer.
Every story and encounter regarding the Wanderer boded no ill or danger for those that had experienced his presence. Rather, all of the described experiences of the tribal people with the Wanderer were of a very positive nature. Janus was left with few doubts that his own encounter with the esoteric, woodland wanderer had been a stroke of excellent fortune. Without the pendants the Wanderer had given them, he did not wish to think of what might have happened after the tribal warriors had come forth from the shadows.
With the tone of a jest, Ayenwatha had then remarked that the Wanderer had often appeared to his eyes and sensibilities to be a wayward elder from Midragard. According to Ayenwatha, the Wanderer’s fair countenance, luxuriant blue eye, staunch fortitude, and seemingly relentless passion for adventuring strongly reflected the kind of blood found flowing in Midragardan veins.
The only significant difference in Ayenwatha’s eyes was that the Wanderer had always been encountered solely by the tribal people within their own woodlands, well within the territories of the Five Realms. The tribal people had never met the Wanderer out upon the Great Waters, or around the Midragardans that they interacted with. In fact, the Midragardans that Ayenwatha knew had claimed to have had no encounters with the Wanderer. As the sachem stated with emphasis, had the Wanderer been of a Midragardan origin, it was inconceivable that the Wanderer would have had no interactions with Midragardans living and traveling in the vicinity of the tribal lands. It was also unbelievable that he had never been seen out on the seas that the Midragardans so loved.