Darin took several deep breathes as she stared up at the sky. She couldn’t afford to panic in a place where there were Eija she didn’t know. She had no idea how they would react if they discovered who Ridahne was. Darin wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. For all she knew they would take it as a chance to kill her friend. They might put the pieces together and realize who she was. That would lead to a completely different set of problems. Those were also not problems that the young human wanted to think about. There were too many variables that she didn’t know what move to make. Darin had never been very good at chess. 

Darin was pulled from her slow breathing as the smell of the air changed. Slowly she opened her eyes as her head deliberately moved towards the direction, she thought she should be looking. The dark clouds on the horizon confirmed her thoughts. It was going to rain and judging by the speed of the storm heads it was going to be soon. Darin looked around to see others pointing at the sky in the same direction. They looked worried. The young farmer quickly put the pieces together. There were crops that were in danger. If something didn’t happen soon, they would be damaged.

Darin quickly walked up to a group of what looked like farmers to listen, “We need to get the crops covered! Rain of that magnitude will hurt them!”

They were speaking in Elurin, “We know that Oscor. We just don’t have enough people or enough time to cover everything. We need to prioritize.”

Another man spoke, “The wheat in Alin’s fields and the beans in Marcon’s.”

Everyone was nodding as the second speaker continued, “Agreed. If we have the time we’ll move to the carrots in Gigi’s.”

Darin found herself matching the language, “What other crops are there?”

The second speaker, clearly the one with the most experience, eyed her as he answered, “The garden patch in Jerone’s and the orchard.”

She asked a follow up question in surprise, “No rye?”

The man shook his head, “We grew wheat this year.”

Darin nodded in understanding, “How can I help?”

There were murmurs of protest that the man silenced quickly with an upraised fist, “Can you pound stakes?”

Darin was honest, “Not as fast as some, but I know how to protect crops from rain.” She was earnest, “I can help if you let me. I want to help.”

The man nodded slowly. He wouldn’t turn down offered help, “The wheat in Alin’s field.”

Darin nodded as another man ran up with a cartful of stakes, “I’ve got the stakes Harris! Alin’s coming with the canvas!”

Harris, the man answering Darin’s questions, nodded, “We are heading to the wheat. Let’s go!”

Darin followed the crowd as they rushed to a collection of fields. There were no houses nearby. It was easy to see that people lived in the village and came out to work their fields. Based on what Harris had said Darin was willing to bet that it was more of a team effort to grow the crops. Alin’s field was his responsibility. Quickly they got to work. At first, they paired up. Darin was paired with Harris and she followed his instructions exactly. She held the stakes in place as Harris hammered them into the ground. The stakes were a good 2 feet taller than the wheat crop. They placed stakes every three feet. Others were going the same. Once the entire perimeter was done lengths of canvas covered in beeswax to waterproof them were cast over the field. Darin was on of the people in the middle of the field tying the lengths together. Others were tying them to the stakes. There were gaps, no solution was perfect, but the damage to the wheat would be minimal. Darin was exhausted when they were done, but she gave no indication of that as they moved to beans. It started raining during the carrots. The work became more earnest and more desperate.

They finished the carrots and Oscor had to yell to be heard over the wind, “We aren’t getting to the garden field.”

Another man hollered back, “I’m staying to finish the job.”

Harris pointed out, “The orchard is older; older than some of our grandparents. It will be fine. We only have the garden field left.”

Oscor, and a few others, shook their heads, “I’m not staying out here to be soaked. You stay if you want.”

A few of the younger men left as Darin and the older ones watched them run off. Harris turned to her and asked, “What about your young visitor?”

In response Darin moved to a cart and grabbed a stake, “There is still work to be done, and I will dry.”

Harris’s sunbeaten face cracked into a smile as nodded at her, “Aye. That’s true enough lad.” He repositioned his hammer as he headed towards the last field, “And the sooner we’re done the sooner we can get back to hot soup and warm ale.”

Darin returned the smile with one of her own. It was slightly manic, “I just want dry clothes and a warm blanket.”

The men laughed with her as they got back to work. The mood wasn’t exactly cheerful as they pounded stakes into the ground around the peas and spinach and lavender, but it had lost that desperate edge. The urgency was still there and gave way to despair as the rain began to torrent from the sky. Darin swore in the tongue of her home. It was growing hard to hold the stakes. Her hands slipped more than once as Harris dropped his hammer. He was lucky that it didn’t fall on his foot. The rain only got harder as the wind increased. Darin was finding it hard to see as rain soaked her and her fellow workers to the bone.

Darin let out a groan of frustration as she lost her grip again. For a reason she couldn’t explain she threw her hands up to the air as she craned her head towards the sky to scream, “STOP!” She spoke in the tongue of her home, “FOR ONE MOMENT JUST STOP!”

And stop the rain did. The Seed-Bearer suddenly felt like she was holding the weight of a thousand barrels of wheat and rye as countless water droplets hung in the air like perfect diamonds forges by deities themselves. There was a sudden silence as the wind was suddenly silenced. It was a good thing Darin was one her knees already or the pressure would send her toppling over. She was already exhausted and could no longer hide it well. Her breathing became erratic. Then Eluri stood and stared at the sky, the garden, her, in pure shock. They were stunned motionless.

Darin grit her teeth as she practically spat in Eluri, “Not to be rude; but can we please finish this. Rain is heavy.”

Harris was the first to move, “Yes! The stakes!”

With that the men were cast into moving again. Darin was worked around as stakes were finished and the canvas casted into place. They moved though the midair droplets with only a few finches. They finished as quickly as possible. They then looked at Darin as if they were waiting for something. Darin wasn’t sure why they were just standing about. They still needed to do the orchard. She wished they would hurry it up. Her arms had started completely extended, but her elbows were slowly bending. She had no idea what she was doing, but it felt like she was physically holding the rain.

A man seemingly older than Harris figured it out, “The orchard is older than me lad, and older than my father. Let the water go. It will be alright.”

With a shout the Seed-Bearer dropped her arms completely. The wind immediately continued rushing. The rain quickly followed. The already soaker workers were soon drenched to the bone. Harris reached out a hand towards Darin and she took it. He helped her up, but the moment Darin let go she careened forward. Harris let out a shout as he rushed to catch her. Darin looked up at him as he braced his hands on her shoulders. Her hands gripped his forearms. She desperately tried to find her footing, but the ground was more mud than dirt and she was exhausted. Her eyelids were heavy and the next time she closed them she didn’t open them. Harris simply responded by swinging her into his arms.

A man whispered, “Magic.”

Someone scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous! Magic is a fiction. None of the Children have what could be called magic. The only person that has magic is.” He paused as he realized what he was about to say.”

The man who had told Darin to let the rain go finished the statement, “The Gardener.”

Eyes went wide, “You don’t think that the boy is connected to The Gardener? Do you?”

The older man spoke, “I don’t know. I know the council knows something the visitors that they aren’t sharing.”

Harris spoke, “I do not know what the council knows about him. I know that he helped us protect our crops when there were those among us that wouldn’t. I am taking him to Konie and Talyn. He needs rest and has earned my respect.”

Others nodded as they followed Harris back into the village. Others came out to see them as they came out. Questions were asked, and all the workers told the others was that they didn’t managed to cover the orchard but that the other fields were fine. No one said anything about the visitor’s gift to the village or his power. Harris walked to Konie’s and knocked on the door. He would tell the other visitor that he had over worked himself covering the crops. He didn’t know if the Azurei knew about her companion’s gifts and it was not his secret to tell. So after he was safely placed in the healer’s care Harris would leave. He still wanted his hot soup and warm ale.