Chapter 5: The Hidden Cottage

As the suns dropped below the horizon, the night glow filled the valley. With three moons and thousands of electrified rocks orbiting the planet, the pathway was well illuminated for night travel. Once they reached the cave entrance leading to her hideaway, Katreena dragged the man to the cottage and put him on the bigger of the two beds. Making sure he was still breathing, and in no immediate danger, she then went to tend to Juniper.

The room was dark except for the light of the moons coming through the window by the bed. Roy opened his one eye that wasn't swollen shut. It was difficult to see anything, and he could not be sure if he were still alive or not. "Hello? Hello, is anyone there?" he tried calling out, his voice weak and raspy. There was no one in the room to answer him, and he was so disoriented he wasn't able to make sense out of anything. The last thing he remembered was looking up at the sky. There was a vague impression that there had been someone with him on the river bank, but he didn't know who it was, or if she had been real or a hallucination. Trying to move he started to sit up but was too weak. He felt as if there was a weight on his chest as his breathing became hard and the pain came into focus. It caused his head to swim and the room to lose focus. Try as he might, his body was in no condition to cooperate, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he reluctantly passed out again.

Soon after, Katreena returned with wood for the fireplace and fresh water. She lit some candles and then the fire. The small room would take a while to warm. Unfortunately, she could not wait for the room to become comfortable before administering to the man's wounds. It was critical to do so before he became too weak to help. His flight suit was different from anything she had ever seen before, and she wasn't sure where to start. It looked like a type of leather to her but fastened together in a way she could not understand. The patch on his shoulder had what looked like writing on it, but the language was not like anything she had seen before. The garment went from his ankles to his neck without a single seam or strap. Gently she ran her hand over his chest and sides looking for a seam or an opening. Despite the necessity of her task, she blushed a bit with embarrassment as the garment was unusually form fitting to the man. Finally, she found a snap holding the opening at the neck together. Pulling on either side of the zipper she eventually forced it open. From that point getting the rest of his clothes off was simple, if not delicate. Undressing a man was not something she had a lot of practice doing and the fact that he was completely unconscious didn't make it any easier. She was careful to pull the snug garment off slowly as not to pull open any more of the wounds. The clothing had prevented many of the cuts and lacerations from bleeding out too much, but they were far from healed. As she came across an opening in the skin, she would apply a bandage to stop the bleeding and use a stone to close the wound. There was barely an inch of skin that she exposed that wasn't covered in cuts and bruises. She had never before seen anyone so gravely hurt, but she dared not stop. As long as he had a single breath of life within him, it was her duty to help him. Once she was done removing the man's clothes and all the bleeding was stopped, she used a sponge and a basin of soapy water to carefully clean away the dirt and dried blood from each wound. Tears welled up in her own eyes as the treatment was taking more from her than she had ever used before and she could feel much of his pain. The energy stone helped, but there was a limit to how much of herself she could give.

She took a brief moment to rest and then continued to his hands and face. As the mud and blood washed away, she saw that the man was rather handsome with a strong, rugged chin contrasted with a bit of a boyish quality around the eyes.  Katreena reminded herself that she had no time for distractions and used the stones again to check his condition, administered some more healing energy and then rejuvenated herself.  The man's injuries were still very extensive. He was out of danger for the moment, but it would take a number of treatments over a few days to make him well enough to travel.  Not exactly how she had planned to spend her retreat, but at least it was doing something worthwhile.  It had been weeks since she had been useful.  A feeling she rather enjoyed.

Going to the cupboard, she pulled out a short knife and slipped it into a pouch she wore on her waist, just in case, the man became dangerous. Then with a wood bowl of water, she took a small spoon and forced a bit of water down the man's throat so his insides would not dry out.

The light from the moons began to fade as they started to drop below the horizon, a sign that the night was well past half over. As tired as Katreena was, her hunger was greater. The hollow feeling in her stomach had become a cramp as she had denied her own needs for most of the day. Her grief had smothered her appetite earlier that morning, and aside from a few nuts and berries picked along the side of the road, she had eaten nothing the entire day. With less than graceful skill, she put the pot of water over the fire, dropped in some meat, vegetables and a few pinches of seasonings, like she had seen her cooks do the few times she visited the royal kitchen. Then she watched it for a while wondering how long it would take for it to start smelling like dinner. Unfortunately, cooking was a skill that she had very little practice in, and she found herself wishing she had packed some prepared meals, rather than the ingredients of them that the chef had packed for her. After a few minutes, the water began to bubble. Taking in the aroma of the steam rising from it she tried to judge the results by the smell. After a few more minutes it began to smell like a stew, and she scooped some into a bowl. Taking a sip of it from a spoon her face puckered as it was quite a disappointment. Yet it was still food and not completely inedible. She forced herself to eat the entire bowl and washed it down with several swallows of wine. Her eyes were feeling heavy as she put the cup and bowl aside not wanting to worry about cleaning them right away. "Some things can wait until morning," she thought. It had been a full day, and she was looking forward to turning in for the evening.

Blowing out the candles she lay on the smaller bed and closed her eyes. In the dark, she listened to the man breathing. It was shallow and a somewhat struggled. Part of her worried about him, but she was also glad for the company. Her husband was if nothing else, a good friend and she did miss having him near on cold, still nights. She had never been comfortable in the dark cloak of night. The sounds of wild animals from the nearby forest and thunder from lightning storms that could last days instilled a deep fear from her earliest memories, yet she never had the fear in the light of day, nor did she suffer the feeling of dread when she had her husband by her side. He was such a comfort to her that she had forgotten all about her silly fears until his death, and then they returned with a vengeance. Despite the injured man's inability to protect her from anything, his presence was still a reprieve from the monsters in the dark.

Then an unexpected sound broke the stillness of the darkness.  A Night Sparrow began to sing outside the window, a sweet, light and unique song that was different than most birds that just chirped or cackled.  Its song, so varied, it almost seemed as if it was singing a melody.  Night Sparrows were skittish and stayed as far away from people as they could, it was rare to see one.  To hear its song was so rare that it was said it was a sign of a wonderful blessing to come.

~~~

The next morning Katreena went out to collect some special herbs, plants, and fruit. Some were for breakfast and some for medicines. The morning air was warm and full of the smells of spring. Inside a grouping of trees, just past the brook that ran by the cottage, she found a Janskia bush full of ripe berries that would be perfect for a broth she could use to help the man rest comfortably. As she reached for one, she remembered the day her father taught her how to pick the berries without pricking her fingers on the barbs that protrude on the bottoms of the fruit. The task was delicate but pleasurable. The simplicity was very soothing to her, as for the moment she didn't have anything else in the world to worry about, just filling her basket with the berries. The scent of winaspuds, one of her favorite flowers, caught her attention as a soft breeze kicked up the dust flower seeds in the field. Sitting down in the tall grass she took a moment to enjoy where she was. Her family's secluded cottage was the most peaceful place she had ever known and just being at it again brought her joy she thought she would never know again. But the moment of serenity was short lived. Sounds of pain and sounds of a strange tongue came from the cottage.

Roy had woken up and was calling out through a gravelly, hoarse voice.  "Hello!  Hello!  Is someone here?"

Katreena quickly ran inside and put a stone on his head to try to alleviate his pain.  He grabbed her wrist, looking into her eyes and said "Where am I?  Who are you?"

She couldn't understand a word but could see the confusion and pain on his face. Pushing him down she put a stone to his forehead, it glowed for a moment, and he went back to sleep. She could tell that the man's pain was getting worse. The healing she had been doing wasn't enough. He was getting weaker, and if she didn't do something more for him, he might not make it another day. The Boto Stone was his only chance. She went to her pack and pulled out the special stone, a large, blue, uncut crystal, passed down by the Queens of her line as the most powerful healing stone ever known. Few had been able to master it, and it was the same her mother used to save hundreds during the dark winter, and that had taken her life.

The stone did more than healing. It created a temporary bond between the healer and the patient. The healer could feel the person's pain and direct the healing at the same time. It also shared the person's feelings with the healer and the healer's feelings with the patient, which was where the danger lies. When a person was in great pain, fear could dominate their emotions. If the healer were confident and had absolutely no doubt that they could heal them, the patient would feel that confidence and accept the power of the stone. If the healer had any doubt at all, it would feed the fear of the person they were trying to help, and that could result in an extremely agonizing death.

Katreena pulled back the quilt covering the man and placed the stone on his chest.  With both of her hands on the crystal, she closed her eyes and concentrated on finding his greatest pain.  Unlike the other healing stone that she used, the Boto Stone drew her mind into the man's body. For a moment she was a part of him, feeling not only his injuries but the scars on his soul from a great loss. His pain was beyond the physical, and she knew she had to be strong enough to not be overwhelmed by it. Concentrating on the euphoria of the relief of pain, she literally wished his wounds to start their healing. For a moment it appeared to be working. She could feel the pain in his sides and chest start to leave his body. A sensation of calm and peace flowed through both of them, and Katreena felt confident that she could do more. Focusing on his injured eye, she concentrated on removing the pain. Suddenly Roy opened his eyes looking directly into hers. A wave of fright and confusion washed over her as the power of the man's spirit overpowered her. She tried to break the link between them, but could not. A bolt of blue energy ran from Roy's chest and up Katreena's arm, throwing her to the ground.  The shock knocked Roy back out, but Katreena didn't lose consciousness. When she tried to open her eyes she saw flashes of images, first of stars, but no constellations that she knew. Then of people sitting around a table drinking and playing a card game with different colored coins on the table. It was as if she were there, but before she could speak the image changed. She found herself on a small wooden boat floating on a blue lake, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. The boat began to rock, and she thought she might fall into the water, but then found herself in a graveyard. The stones had words on them that she could not read. A woman's terrified scream came from behind her sending a fright up her spine. Spinning around she found herself standing in a red desert and a great city exploding before her. She tried to turn and run, but her feet were not touching the ground. Reality came back to her as she opened her eyes, back in the cottage, on the floor, looking up at the roof. Quickly she scooted herself back against the far wall as if she was trying to run away from something, never having been so frightened before in her life, but the fear quickly subsided as reason took hold. It was just a side effect of the Boto Stone, more intense than she had ever expected. Sitting on the floor, she closed her eyes and centered her thoughts until she could feel her pounding heart quiet back to a normal beat as her aunt had taught her. The experience was overwhelmingly powerful, and she needed a moment to make sense of it all. It was more than just confused sounds and images. It had also created an impression of comprehension about the man, nothing that she could put into words, but an understanding of him, a sense that he was a good man, honest and even noble in his own way, even though she could not describe how she knew. The knowledge served as a source of inspiration to want to keep helping him.

Regaining control of her senses, she pulled herself up to her feet and using the pain stone she examined the man. The treatment appeared to have worked. He was in much less pain and healing. "Thank God," she whispered, but the words she spoke sounded different than the words she was thinking; as if she had blurted them out in a different language. She repeated it. "Thank God." and the words came out of her mouth in her language. Assuming that she had merely misheard herself, as she was still shaken by the experience, the mistake was quickly dismissed. Taking a deep breath, she planned out her next few actions to make sure she was in complete control of herself. Grabbing a cloth, she wrapped the Boto Stone and put it back in her leather bag.  She did not notice the faint blue glow coming from inside the stone that should have gone completely dark once it was not in use.

Katreena was satisfied that it was safe to leave the man alone to sleep. Grabbing the axe and bucket, she went to attend to her needed chores, but then stopped as a smell caught her attention. Quickly she looked around to identify it, as it seemed new and out of place, but as she did her hair fell into her face and realized that the smell was coming from her. It was the aroma of the spring blossoms that were mixed with her soap that she washed her hair with the day before. It was something that was a part of her daily ritual since before she could remember, yet for a moment it seemed new to her as if she had discovered it for the first time. Another side effect she assumed. Dismissing it as something that would quickly pass, she continued to her chores.

Katreena spent the day chopping wood, collecting water, fixing meals of broth for her patient, and fruit and nuts for herself.  Periodically she checked on the man who slept through the day and into the night.  She enjoyed being able to do things for herself, but the work was harder than she had remembered.  Her muscles sore and her body tired, she looked forward to a warm dinner and a quiet evening.  As she finished her meal of bread and a vegetable soup that was bland, she sat by the fire to read one of her favorite books, but she couldn't keep her mind on the pages.  The images that she had seen when she used the Boto Stone filled her thoughts, and wished she could make sense of them. They were a jumble of people in odd clothing, a lake she had never seen before, the view of stars as if she were standing amongst them and gravestones in a place that cast shadows from only one sun. It was the oddest feeling for her because even though she recognized nothing, it all felt more like memories rather than something dreamt. She didn't realize just how distracted she had become until the fire began to die. The cooling air sent a shiver through her bones, bringing her back to the moment. When she got up to put another log on the fire the patch on Roy's flight suit caught her eye again, yet this time she recognized one of the symbols on it, "The Alliance." She didn't know what it meant but somehow knew that it was the word for that symbol. Picking up the flight suit, she took a closer look at the words on the patch. She recognized the words "space" and "group" even though the language was still completely alien to her. It was a little unsettling. "How could I know that?" she asked herself. Then she shook her head and dismissed it as the silly thoughts of an overtired mind. Putting down the flight suit, she put her book back on the shelf, blew out the candles, changed in the dark into her nightdress and climbed into bed.

As Katreena slipped into a deep sleep, her dreams went from a walk in a field, to the hallway of a starship. Alarms rang; people ran down the long hallway and then disappeared out the end. She ran down the hall not knowing what was happening but felt she had to follow. Suddenly she came to the opening and stepped into a flight hangar bay of a Carrier Starship. Men and women in suits like the one the man had been wearing were climbing into fighter ships. Fear enveloped Katreena. Her hands were shaking, and she tried to call out, but could not. Running to one side, she put her back up against a steel wall. As she watched the chaos unfolding around her, she had a vague understanding of what was happening but was still confused. She tried closing her eyes, but the sounds of the dream would not go away. Then suddenly the dream changed, she was in the seat of a vessel, and it was flying out into space. She found herself surrounded by stars and could feel her body being pushed back against the seat. Another large craft came towards her and started firing lasers. To her, they just looked like flashes of light, but when they impacted the hull and things in the cockpit started blowing up, she realized she was being attacked.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she sat up in bed covered in a cold sweat. Her heart was pounding in her ears. The little one-room cottage was quiet and still; the only sounds were the crackle of the fire and the labored breathing of the man. It took her a moment to get a hold of herself. Climbing out of her bed, she went over to the man on the other bed and looked at him. "Roy," she said in a whisper. She didn't know how, but she knew his name. Sitting in the chair next to him, she watched him for a long time. Somehow she knew that he was a warrior of some kind and was from a place beyond the stars. There were legends of monsters from the stars. Frightening, large, animal-like beasts that over millennia ago had enslaved her people and that the first eleven had driven away forever, but this man was not a monster. He was a normal, fragile human. She told herself that she should be afraid of a man from the stars, but she wasn't. It was becoming clear to her that the bond created between them by the Boto Stone was greater than she had ever imagined it could be.  Her aunt had warned her that such things had happened before, usually between very close family members, but the connection always faded after a day or two, an unsettling experience to say the least.  She certainly could do without the nightmares, but the connection did give her a sense of the type of man Roy was and that he was a man worth saving.  Brushing a strand of hair away from his face she whispered "Good night and content dreams."  Lying back down in her bed, she spent a long time looking at the stars through the window before finally falling back to sleep.

~~~

The next morning Katreena woke early. There were storm clouds on the horizon, and she would need to collect firewood, pick berries, and find some wild onions and potatoes before the rain. A storm cloud that dark meant a thunderstorm that could last days.

Running a line from the east wall to the corner of the fireplace that she would use to dry clothes, she draped a blanket over it to grant her privacy to change. Even though the man was still asleep, she felt the need to be discrete. After warming some water in a pot, she undressed and bathed with a clean sponge and scented soap that she had brought with her. Not a necessity being out in the wilderness with just the injured man for company. However, she didn't feel right not having cleaned herself in over two days. The man would eventually wake, and she wished her image to be a pleasant one.

Her morning rituals often took well over an hour, but with the thunder, in the distance, she quickened her pace and did just the basics. Once dressed she decided to skip braiding her hair until later in the day and hurried out the door to attend to her chores.

The inside of the cottage was dim, with the only cloud covered daylight coming through the windows. It was quiet aside from the crackle of the fire, the occasional howl of wind around the cottage as the storm neared, and some brave birds trying to out-sing the wind. Roy's first moments of awareness were the sounds around him that didn't make sense. The memory of the crash landing and the encounter with the wild animal was a jumble. The sounds he had been accustomed to hearing when waking up on a starship were more mechanical and consistent than those of the natural world he was discovering himself in. His mind tried to make sense of it all, but could not. He opened his one good eye and didn't move. The first thing he noticed was the air. It was crisp and clean, cleaner than he had ever known. Then an aroma of sweet maples like wood smoke, wet grass and a hint of mint filled the room. It confirmed his conclusion that he had not been dreaming and was not breathing the recycled air of a starship. Despite the stiffness and pain in his neck, he turned his head a bit, as he tried to see where he was. It took a minute for his eye to focus. He was in a little room that seemed familiar, even though he had no idea of where he was. That in itself made him question if what he was seeing was real or just a dream. Closing his eye, he took some slow, deep breaths and concentrated on focusing his mind. He wanted to make sure he was really awake and not hallucinating while still dying on that river bank.

"Focus O'Hara, Focus," he said to himself through a dry and gravelly voice. "You can taste the air that your lungs are breathing in and out. That's good. That means you're still alive. So far so good." Saying what he was thinking out loud was helping him to focus even though it was difficult and painful. "Okay, you can hear the sounds of wind and birds in the distance. So you did make it to the ground, that wasn't a dream. You're alive on a planet somewhere with life on it, that's good." As the fog of disorientation lifted, the pain of his injuries started to become clearer as well. He had to grit his teeth more to endure it, but he kept talking to himself out loud. Opening his eye, he took another look around. "What is this place?" Slowly he sat up and looked around the room. He could see that it was a small dwelling, a couple of beds, a table with a couple of chairs, a rocking chair by the fireplace, an iron pot hung over the fire, a couple of windows, one door, some books on a shelf, a number of candles and a bowl full of rocks and crystals. "Okay, O'Hara looks like you were found by someone. Maybe all isn't lost after all." He also noticed his flight suit draped over one of the chairs. Keeping the quilt wrapped around him he slowly stood up and tried to limp over to his clothes. After just two steps, he lost his balance and caught himself on the table. Pulling himself back up, he got a closer look at the books on the little shelf. The titles on the spines were in a foreign language, but he could read one of them, "The Birds of Aronose. How could I know that?" he mumbled to himself. But then he decided it wasn't important, and he reached out to grab his flight suit, but his hand started to shake; the room began to spin, and he fell to the floor out cold.

About an hour later as the rain started to fall Katreena came back into the cottage and found Roy on the floor. "Oh my God!" she called out as she quickly went to him. Relieved to find him still breathing, she dragged him back onto the bed and covered him up. Despite the difficulty of having to move him, she saw it as a good sign that he had enough strength to wake and move around for a short time. Her trips to the cottage had never exceeded three days, so the sooner he was able to travel the better. The storm would prevent any travel for a few days, but if she didn't return to the kingdom shortly after they would worry and search for her. It wasn't just because she didn't want anyone to know the location of the cottage, but more for the reason that she didn't know how to explain Roy. She had taken a great risk spending days alone with a man from another world. The fear of the return of the monsters from the stars was so ingrained in her people that no one would understand why she didn't go for help or just leave him to die. The choice was clear. Once the storm had passed, she would send the man on his way and return to the kingdom, never to speak of it.

Katreena looked out the window. The sky had become dark, and the rain came down hard. Spring thunderstorms often became extremely dangerous with the green and blue lightning that they could generate. The land would seem to compete with the sky as lightning would jump from cloud to cloud and then down to the ground, triggering crystals in the ground to shoot bolts back up at the sky. It was a danger the inhabitants of the world had long learned how to deal with by building their homes from inert materials. Knowing that she was going to be indoors for some time, she started a new fire and put water in the pot to boil. Tending to her patient, she administered the healing stone and fed him some water with a few herbs mixed in to help build up his strength. The rest of the afternoon and evening was relatively quiet aside from the rain and thunder. The herbs that she gave Roy helped him to stay asleep, which was critical in the healing and made it safer for her to care for him, considering she knew nothing about him. He was still a stranger and might be dangerous despite what she sensed about him. With the rain limiting her activities to the inside of the cottage she spent most of her time mending one of her dresses, carving a new handle for one of her pots and reading The Birds of Aronose which happened to be her favorite book.

"Tell me about it?" Roy asked in a quiet and modest voice.

Katreena was startled.  She looked over and saw Roy sitting up in bed looking directly at her. "What did you say?" surprised that she understood him.

"The book that you are reading, The Birds of Aronose, right?  What's it about?" Roy asked.

The moment was odd to Katreena at first. A strange man from the stars, who was too weak to stay awake just an hour earlier, was sitting up in bed asking her questions like they were long acquaintances. Yet she could not bring herself to protest. There was something so familiar about him that she felt compelled to answer. "Um, well... it's about these three children, a brother and two sisters who are on a quest to find their lost mother. They meet a wizard who asks for their help to defeat a dragon, who is terrorizing a nearby village. They each have a different special skill that helps to catch the dragon, which the wizard turns into his pet. As a reward, the wizard turns the children into three different birds so they can cover every inch of the world to look for their mother, one that can fly, one that can swim and the third that can run fast. Then each of the following chapters are the stories of each of their adventures."

"Does it have a happy ending?"

"Yes in the end they..."

"Don't tell me." Roy cut her off.  "I don't want to know the ending; just that it's a good ending.  I don't care for books with sad endings."

"Neither do I," Katreena said, thinking that it was nice that they had something in common.  "Would you like me to read it to you?"

"Oh, you have done so much for me; I don't expect you to..."

"Please, I would like to.  I'll start at the beginning." Katreena turned back to the first page of the book and read the story to Roy.  "In the mountains of Essera there lived Isabel and her three children; Tyon the strongest and bravest, Yoler the curious, and Bethera the smartest. One day before the autumn harvest..." As she read it brought back memories of her father reading it to her when she was little, and also of how her husband never cared to share much of anything that she took an interest. Roy laid back and watched her as she read, catching a faint smile from her whenever she would glance up and see him smiling at her.  Katreena thought to herself that it was such a pleasant moment that it was as if she dreamt it up herself.

Suddenly a tremendous clap of thunder shook the cottage waking Katreena. The fire had burned down to only embers, and all but one candle had gone out. It took her a moment to realize that she had fallen asleep reading her book and the entire conversation with Roy had been nothing more than a dream. As she thought about it, she laughed at herself for even considering that it could have been anything other than a dream, because she had been speaking in her language and he was an alien that spoke a different tongue. How could they have understood each other with no difficulty? For a dream, it had felt oddly real. Nothing like any dream she had ever had before, but then again the entire experience had been very different. She decided it wasn't worth fretting over. Pulling herself up out of the rocking chair, she changed into her nightdress and went to her bed to go back to sleep.