Page 6 of Triadic

"Tschüss."

Trompingback through the snow, something niggled at me about that name. Ulysses the Tall. Everything in the letter had been so thinly coded, I felt like I should be able to suss out his true name. For just a local leader in Danubian lands, someone from Helvetica couldn't be expected to know them. Helvetica had stabilized a good two decades ago, firmed up its borders.

The fact that Wren's new job was to watch over these lantern gods that supported the Danubian king was a good sign of friendship, considering he was a monk from Helvetica. From what I could tell, our Republic was a big fan of this current high king because he'd managed to unite the petty kings and so far seemed to be successfully fighting off incursions on his border. His territory currently stretched from Helvetica in the west all the way to the Viennese city state in the east.

He was such a powerful warlord by now that as the guardian of the lanterns, Wren might even get to meet him. Ulbrecht the Great.

As soon as I thought the words, my feet slowed to a stop. The cold pressed in from all sides, but I didn't feel it.

'Ulysses the Tall' sounded suspiciously like Ulbrecht the Great, the Danubian High King.

A stone settled in my stomach as dread washed over me. It was so thinly veiled, it would be absurd ifitwasn'thim.

Forcing my legs to carry me home, I resolved to meditate on this tonight.

If the lanterns were truly that important, of course the king himself would visit the old mystic up in the mountains, surely in secret. And that mystic having passed on to the next world, going up the mountain this time would lead him straight to Wren. Our Wren, but no longer. His Wren now.

I sent a prayer to our gods for Wren's safety and trudged onwards.

Chapter Four: Peter

I'd lost track of how many days it had been since our regular dinner had somehow made me violently ill. I couldn't keep anything down and was forced to remain by the riverbank just to keep hydrated. Everything hurt. Yesterday even my little dog had left me. I'd called for Schneewittchen all night to no avail. And still the Christians paused at the beech tree holding the magical image of the Alpine Christ further down the bank, and despite calling to them for help, they didn't notice me at all.

So after all these months of being stuck here, I was apparently going to die despite my best efforts to survive and escape. I had wanted a chance to start over, but maybe I wouldn't get that after all. At least before Schneewittchen had left, I had bonded with my sweet dog and managed to process a lot of the angst from my home village. My life wouldend young, but at least I had learned some things and grown as a person.

Panting, I rolled onto my side on the snow-dusted dirt by the bank, unable to move much further away, even to shield myself from the coming winter. I had to stay close to the water, had to drink because I'd been so sick I hadn't eaten anything in days and didn't have the energy to fish. I didn't know what had given me food poisoning, and thus I was afraid to eat the nuts and berries I had in my stores. Fatigued and delirious, I chewed the peppermint leaves from my bag and tried to coach my body into healing.

"Yip! Yip!"

Hope leapt into my chest. "Schneewittchen?Komm hier, Honig!"

White flashed in the undergrowth, and the strangest sight met me: my little dog was jumping on someone, but that person was invisible. I watched as the pup got closer, jumping up on someone's legs excitedly, but no one was there. What on earth?

Then a disembodied voice called out, "Oida! Hallothere, are you all right?"

"H-hallo?" I answered feebly, looking around.

Two people rushed toward me as waves in the air, shimmering like how a beam of golden sunlight dashing through the forest could turn things effervescent. I felt a hand on my shoulder but also someone patting my legs, while Schneewittchen yipped but wouldn't get close to me, dancing on the periphery even as I reached out to her. My being so sick had probably scared her, poor thing.

"Oh nein," one voice said, a man. "Areyou a Christian? Gabriel, maybe we should call Solomon to give him his last confession…"

"I'm…" I struggled to find my words as my stomach threatened to upend itself. "I think I accidentally ate something poisonous. I had my regular stores, and the fish didn't stink. There's an image of the Alpine Christ in that large beech tree down the bank. He appeared to me in a dream, but I don't think I want to be a Christian anymore. I've been put through too much by the supposed Christians in my home village."

"That's all right," the same voice said, and I could swear I could feel him smoothing my sweaty bangs from my forehead. "My name is Florian, and this is my partner Gabriel. We were incarnate humans before, but now we're just one tiny step beyond that stage. We no longer need physical bodies."

"Try to see us," another voice encouraged me. "We're two men, right here with you. Look at us and imagine that you can see us."

Though it was nearly impossible to set my physical pain aside, I breathed as deeply as I could without throwing my stomach into another fit, and mentally told my eyes that there were two people in front of me, and I could see them if I just relaxed.

When I opened my eyes, my imagination had painted them for me. Florian, who knelt by my head, had dark-brown hair, a tawny beard, and dancing hazel eyes. Gabrielhad mixed blond-ish hair and seemed to be very tall. His skin was pale, and his eyes were a muted gray color.

Afraid, my subconscious wondered whether these were angels come to carry me into the beyond. Yet everything in me fought against it. I wasn't ready to go yet; I had so much more living to do. Then enough of my rational mind took back over and reminded me that these men had said they were human once, though now disembodied. Maybe they could help me get to a doctor.

Gabriel smiled. "Sehr gut, you can see us now."

"Hallo, my name is Peter," I stammered. "My dog found you. Can you please help get me to a doctor?"

"There is a monastery near here. They should be able to help you. We'll carry you to the edge of the forest, but passing through the protective barrier there is beyond my current abilities to withstand," explained Florian.