[colour=aquamarine][b]Calign[/b][/colour][hr]
Calign dug its bare feet into the mud as its steed shoved its big pointed snout further into the heaped-up pile of weeds and hay. The happy munching sounds coming from within the mound surely meant that they would be here for some time, probably a few hours, while the suchus ate and rested. It was the first time Calign would stop so close to a village.

The spirit rubbed one hand up against the other arm, as if cold.

They’d gone through a village before. Some of the plants here had crept over from its forest, mostly old fig trees and some water lilies, but most of it was of the other kind, maples and olives and that kind of thing. At least there were planes. Cypresses. Quite a few that it recognised, actually.

It was easier to look at the trees than make eye contact with the people.

[colour=aquamarine][i]Am I bothering them?[/i][/colour] The first village hadn’t seemed too happy when the suchus had trampled a path through their big field of grass. The second village was content to bring food for its mount, so long as the mount was in the same spot as the other big snouted animals, though they were more surprised than anything. Their food consisted of the same grass. Grass was everything to these people, apparently. They were thrilled when Cal made the the grass grow, and angry when it was stepped on.

Honestly, Calign was a bit out of its depth.

It stroked the scrabbling lizard in its collar. It hadn’t even shed its invisibility for more than a few seconds at a time yet. [colour=aquamarine][i]What a mess...[/i][/colour]

In the village proper, Elmer stared at his hands, scrubbed clean as they were, rings gleaming on each finger. The window seat's cushions were cold against his back, even as the morning sun passed through the shutters to wash his robes in slates of yellow light. 

The rings were simple bands wrought with white gold, bright against his dark skin, the metal scuffed by years and use. Sunlight warmed Elmer’s right hand, but it was the rings on his right hand that shone slightly. Each one hummed, shining the light of truth upon the words of the villagers. A magi was indeed nearby.

Elmer inhaled deeply, drawing in stale air. The wind that passed through the window hot and sticky, carrying in the smell of the forest and a whiff of smoke from a cooking fire in the square nearby. 

It was a fortnight ago when the thing came to a merchant's child. A bird of supernatural inception carrying a blossom they said. Word spread like wildfire and caught the ear of a student of his academia. The rest, naturally, was history. With only his rings and the words of witnesses to go on, he managed to track the rogue wizard to this village.

Curious things, magi were. It was not often that such ones of enormous power and influence left their spheres or hovels. Lugal had been a wonderful exception. A student of fire and ambition... What little he saw of him now. Only news of his exploits too the north reached him now. 

What about this magi? What did this one come looking for? There was only one way to find out. Gathering himself up, Elmer left the home a family graciously offered him temporary residence and made for the fields. 

By the time Calign stopped frowning closely at the wattle-and-daub wall of one of the houses long enough to flick its ears and notice someone behind him, Elmer had, by luck or keen intuition, come rather close. Cal turned its head around its neck like an owl and felt its heart jolt. A giant…

...but a giant of a different kind. This one was old, bent, and didn’t carry anything that was obviously a weapon. He had a much greyer beard. Still, he was taller than Calign on tiptoe, and after the last one, it had no intention to get tangled up so soon. With one hand still pressing the wall, Calign slowly started to tiptoe away to the far side of the house.

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”Ah, does the elephant chase after gazelles?”[/color] Elmer chucked after the magi, tucking his glowing rings into the folds of his robe. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”I did not mean to startle you, I forget myself when I am especially fascinated. This one is called Elmer.”[/color]

[colour=aquamarine][i]What in Hell’s name is an elephant?[/i][/colour] Calign’s shroud dissolved, but the spirit was still shy, and didn’t emerge from behind the wall. [colour=aquamarine]“...Me too. I should have heard you coming. Ah. Ummm.”[/colour] Cal put the lizard back down its shirt before it could climb out. [colour=aquamarine]“...A black bird came carrying a flower. What kind was it?”[/colour]

Elmer’s face soured in an attempt to peel back the wall of fog clouding his memory. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”A blossom of some sort. I was told by a student who was told by a friend and so on and so forth. I admit I should have investigated further. I suppose my age is catching up with me.”[/color]

Calign stuck its head out from behind the wall, ears rising a little. [colour=aquamarine]”Students?”[/colour] It cautiously stepped out. [colour=aquamarine]”You… my name is Calign. I’m… looking for answers. You found me. Are you a witch?”[/colour]

A smile peeled apart the sea of grey on Elmer’s face. [color=DarkGoldenrod]” Witch. Wizard. Magi. God. There are many names for us. I prefer the lesser, or greater. A matter of perspective. Teacher. Grandmaster. Preceptor. I just may have the answers you seek.”[/color]

[colour=aquamarine]”If you can tell me how all these people are living on grass, we’ll already be half done,”[/colour] said Calign. [colour=aquamarine]”So you are a wizard. And a giant. Umm. I… don’t know what to say.”[/colour] It looked around. [colour=aquamarine]”Should we… sit?”[/colour]

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”Grass? Giant?”[/color] the wiseman began with a chuckle, gesturing the magi forward as he sat himself down on a rock. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”What you call grass, we call grain. It’s properties grant us creatures of flesh sustenance, a key to our continued survival. And all grass is as nourishing or safe to eat I might add. The kind I’m sure you’ve seen the farmers growing in the fields is good for eats.”[/color]

Calign sat on a log, and realised that it had probably been rolled here for the very purpose. [colour=aquamarine]”I know. But there seems to be so much of it. And so many people. And I can’t find it growing anywhere else, this grain… Do they plant it somehow? Is it poisonous, that they cook it in fire and water? Was it here before they put this city here?”[/colour] Calign gestured a little bit to the tiny frontier village around them, then frowned and shook its head. [colour=aquamarine]”...no! I’m distracted again. I’m sorry. Take me from the beginning, Teacher, if it pleases you. Tell me about… your land.”[/colour]

Elmer lit up. One who was eager to learn! And so he began from the very beginning, and detailed to him the rise of Aïr and the intricacies of grain. All that Calign sought was made known. 

By the end of it, Calign sat on his log with the lizard in its lap, fiddling with a long ear of wheat. A handful of village youths, and even grown parents, had come to listen to the talk and study of the ancients among them.

[colour=aquamarine]”...What about you, Master Elmer? You’ve seen all this first-hand. You’ve seen Aïr… in ways I didn’t think things could be seen, even by a magus. What else do you see? Can you see the future, too?”[/colour]

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”Even in my youth I could not see that far! With neither might nor magic.”[/color] he guffawed, cracking a palm against his knee. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”But to see is only half the battle. You must understand. Comprehend. And apply what you learn to the world. Then your eyes will be opened to you.”[/color]

Calign sat. [colour=aquamarine]”Well, I’ve been doing a lot of seeing,”[/colour] it said, trying to keep up and look competent. [colour=aquamarine]”Understanding is… a little hard. But I’ll try. My eyes will be opened when I apply what I’ve learned...”[/colour] It stared at the wheat for a second, then half smiled. [colour=aquamarine]”Hm. How would you apply what [i]you[/i] have learned, Master Elmer?”[/colour]

With great effort, the old mage bent over and took up a handful of dirt. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”I have learned a great many things. And I will learn a great many more things. But what ever accomplishments one boasts of in the world, there is someone better than you.”[/color] 

With a crack and gust of wind Elmer produced a third eye that shined like a diamond in the sun. And in his hand the earth began to smoke until it flared up into a great ball of white hot fire, burning so brightly that those who looked upon it hand to turn away for fear of losing their sight. 

A clap. And the light was gone. The diamond was gone.

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”I suppose my age had caught up with me.”[/color] he snorted. 

Calign lifted its pale green eyes from where they had lain, fixed on that terrible eye, now just another wrinkle in the old giant’s forehead. It sent its gaze down to where the dust and mud had burned its retinas. That solid matter was gone now, gone just like the smoke.

[colour=aquamarine]”...”[/colour]

The spirit stood. [colour=aquamarine]”I… I see. Thank you.”[/colour] The teacher of Aïr was old. Ancient. Like the gods. And he was alive, and growing, and [i]learning.[/i] Not like the gods. [colour=aquamarine]”I have… much to learn.”[/colour] Calign flickered in and out of vision like the stripes of a grass-shaded tiger, and its ears were pricked just as high. [colour=aquamarine]”I will… see you… elsewhere in your land. Thank you, Teacher.”[/colour] Already backed up far into the fields of verdant wheat, Calign’s footsteps were nothing but the faintest breeze as it made to flee into the wilds beyond, its lizard clinging to the front of its robe.

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”You mean to leave so soon?”[/color] the old man intoned in a gust of wind and a dead sprint, and the breeze accelerated. In almost a blink the magi was just a few steps behind it, hardly breaking a sweat. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”In your rush you dropped your weapon!”[/color]

Calign reappeared, all in one go, solid and real in the field. It held a low crouch, coiled like a spring, the same way it had crouched the last time a giant had come after it. Then it stood.  [colour=aquamarine]”...Yes.”[/colour] It looked at the bronze knife in the bundle of leaves. [colour=aquamarine]”I forgot. I wanted to ask you about it. ...What is it?”[/colour]

[color=DarkGoldenrod]”Ah!”[/color] the old man began, holding the thing up to the sun and squinting his rheumy eyes. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”A knife. A tool of great utility, capable of cutting the flesh. Even a magi should keep such things with them.”[/color]

Calign nodded. [colour=aquamarine]”Yes, it is like a claw. Or… a sharpened flint, like my people use. But the material… It’s as sharp as a flint, but stronger. It doesn’t chip or shatter, but it bends. When I strike it, it sings, and it heats like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I’ve seen giants… wearing it. And your people use it too.”[/colour] Calign looked up, a new fire in its eyes. [colour=aquamarine]”...I was frightened of this thing, but now I realise that I already understand it. I couldn’t name it, so I was afraid of it. I still can’t name it, but now I’m not afraid. Is this what it means to comprehend?”[/colour]

Elmer thumped at his temple with an index finger. [color=DarkGoldenrod]”Having little knowledge is like having your hands tied around your neck like a slave. Each learned moment is a knot undone, Calign.”[/color] he intoned, handing the knife back, handle first.

Calign opened its mouth to ask something, and then closed it. And smiled. [colour=aquamarine]“Thank you, Elmer,”[/colour] it said, and meant it this time. It wrapped the knife in a blade of wheat, and disappeared from view. [colour=aquamarine]“Fare thee well.”[/colour]

[hr]
[hider=Notes]
Elmer enters the stage.
Calign meets Elmer and receives teaching, and a fright.
[/hider]