Page 7 of Triadic

Gabriel scooped his arms under my legs at the same time as Florian wrapped an arm around my shoulders and attempted to pick me up. Though they heaved, my body somehow oozed out of their grasp and back to the ground. I yelped in fright as poor Schneewittchen barked and growled.

Florian's voice held an edge of stress. "That didn't work."

Gabriel spoke urgently but was clearly trying to calm me. "Peter, your soul is trying to leave your body behind. It's likely best that you prepare yourself. You said you're no longer a Christian. Is there anything else that you believe? You should call upon your angels."

Tears choked me. "I don't know! I was just trying to survive and didn't have a chance to figure it out. I've been living in this forest and talking to it for months because I couldn't find a way to escape."

That gave them pause, and they both appraised me a moment.

"You talk to the forest?" asked Florian. This prospect clearly delighted him.

I nodded.

"And then do you listen, in case the forest responds?" asked Gabriel.

I thought about that, then nodded again. "I've been listening the whole time I've been here. Not just for signs of humans that could lead me out. I told all my life's stories to my dog, and after I'd vented all my pain, it gave me some perspective on all the things that led to me running into the forest and leaving everything and everyone behind. Since then I've just been listening."

They nodded. Gabriel turned to his companion. "Want to see whether you can call Gwion, Flor?"

Florian huffed, then filled me in. "We have a friend who is more advanced than us. But he's also not keen on interfering with fate, so he frankly might not be willing to lift a finger for you. Just be warned."

"Jaokay,danke," I answered.

Gabriel guided me through a visualization, and as I imagined his promptings, the forest around us shimmered and then grew more vivid. The air sparkled, and it was as if I witnessed the trees breathing. Floriangripped my shoulder and encouraged me. My body felt lighter, and the physical pain did not scream as loudly in my mind. Yet rather than becoming more foggy brained, my consciousness grew sharper, as if my physical brain were a rather crude instrument compared to what my disembodied mind might truly be capable of.

"Can you see the forest?" asked Gabriel.

"I can see more than I could prior," I confirmed.

"Genau. Now, Florian, can you practice calling Gwion? He likely won't answer if I do it for you."

Florian huffed again and shook his head with a smile. "Our friend is also our mentor. He trains us in magic, though these days he mostly teaches a technique and then leaves us in the forest to figure it out on our own."

I chuckled, but that only hurt my guts and threatened to pull me back into my physical body and away from the shimmering magic.

They fell quiet. Florian closed his eyes and focused for a long time while I simply breathed and tried not to panic at being so close to the edge of death.

As if stepping through a divided curtain, suddenly a large antlered man came through the trees. His cloak, rustling in the wind, looked as if it had been made of thousands of leaves. Gabriel briefly explained my situation, but the man turned cold blue-green eyes on me and shrugged. "A dying human is not my concern. If you want to rescue him, you'll have to do it yourself."

Again Florian tried to scoop me up, but I oozed out of his grasp and back to the ground. I tried to calm my racingheart. It was truly startling to see my body behave like a liquid.

But something struck me as so familiar about this Gwion that I blurted, "Are you the Antlered One?"

I then said the precious name of an old god who was revered by the Alpine Celts some 2500 years ago. I'd read about him in a book. Though I had been told all my life that only the Christian god was real, after all the magic I'd witnessed in this forest, surely this god, the Antlered One, was just as real.

Gwion swiveled slowly to meet my gaze. His dark hair was floppy around the antlers that were the color of the trees. His pale blue-green eyes were now soft, as gentle as a stream or a brook.

"I am not him, the Old One," he answered me head on, "but I follow him. And yes, what you're wondering is true. He is still here."

We shared a quiet moment as the wind rustled through the trees.

"He's one of us, or he could be," said Florian, making a case for me. "He said he listens to the forest. If he stepped onto the path, he'd follow in our footsteps or those of someone similar."

"What would you do if you got the chance to live again?" asked Gabriel.

Part of me knew I should try to answer in a way that would convince Gwion, but being in so much pain, I didn't have it in me to strategize, so I just answered honestly. "My plan was to get to the nearest town and find a job. My familyran the general store in our village. I was set to take over in a few years, so I know how to run it. That's a skillset that's useful anywhere."

"Love to see that entrepreneurial spirit," remarked Florian, his eyes shining with pride.