By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 44

Calm is the forest right after the dawn light has kissed the colours into being. Just being there brings the soul into sweet surrender, at one with nature, vibrant yet relaxed. Every fragrance is fresh, like the page of a new book. Each burst of birdsong is unique, a live chorus to waken the mind, to shake off whatever sleepiness remains. Thoughts and feet wander, lungs fill, time rolls by in its silent and endless way. When my hand moves over the canvas it's almost like my mind is directing it without me, odd perhaps, but that's the way it is. My hand moves instinctively to the right spot, building a new picture, often one I have never seen before. In these fantastical worlds I see reflections of my own mind, the way I think, but there is something else there too. I don't know what, perhaps I just imagine it, but when I paint I feel closest to our creator and it gives me a peace and mental calmness I cannot find another way.

Rhea stood in front of the canvas that every single student had been provided with. It was the third class that she was attending for the day and as far as she was concerned Rhea liked the classes immensely. The syllabus was vastly different from what she had been learning in her previous school with much more details and this felt like the books were everything that she had been waiting to study for so long. She could not be more happier that she had got a chance like this to explore something of which she had no idea previously. Rhea thought a lot of things but her fingers and eyes were stuck on the canvas as if they ahd been attached with glue.

The lake glistened, mirroring the dazzling assemblage of glittering stars. The faint wind brushed against the water’s surface, the ripples ruffled the stillness of the surface, and shattered the reflection of the harbour. That was what she had painted. She did not remember where she had seen this or even if she had seen this at all in her entire life but she had painted it on the canvas with the dexterity of a seasoned artist and waited for the colours to gleam and glisten as the rippling effect on the water took place and hardened up.

Rhea finished her painting and then closed her eyes. Almost immediately a series of visions started playing before her. It was like she was connected to each and every single tree on every lakeside. She could feel the single twigs and every single blade of grass connected to her stream of consciousness. It was all so surreal and she had never in her life experienced something like this.

Under blue and sunlit skies, the view was wondrous to behold, for the lake teemed with life. To the chorus of birdsong from the surrounding green bushes, and the sound of carp sucking amongst the flowering lily-pads, mother duck, watchful for the predatory pike, scooped the surface for food, with her young trailing behind like a row of bobbing corks. Dab chicks and coots fed in the safe haven of the reed-beds, whilst flashing green and blue dragonflies hovered above.

But today was damp and bleak, and a light grey mist hung over the lake like a veil. The only sound to break the eerie silence, was the slow methodical beat of its wings, as a lone grey heron passed lazily, and unseen, overhead. A deep sense of serenity overcame her as she stared in rapture at the expanse of blue that lay before her. Rays of lights danced delicately across the water, birthed from the afternoon sun that both limited her sight and made the view all the more beautiful. The lake is the finest of mirrors, never showing exactly what is above, but converting it to a image so beautifully smudged and broken. The weeping willow, the clouds above, all become a Monet – all free for the looking. Sure, it is transient, changing by the day, but that's what makes it all the more precious. I can walk here every day and always it will be both different and the same.

A sudden presence behind her forces Rhea to open her eyes and immediately she stands on her guard. She has not been harassed by any single one of the students yet. They all seemed older to her and spoke to her softly when it was required. Their behavior was either the normal one or they were scared of her and acting out in different ways. It was Meron again.

Rhea rolled her eyes waiting for another of his hostile volley of words. She would have punched him and caved his mouth and nose inside his skull if she could but she knew that it was the first day and she needed to be in control of her temper.

“Have you learnt witchcraft as well as being trained for being an imbecile?” asked Meron, with a smirk as all the others looked at him in shock. The entire class turned towards him and were thinking the same thing, how in the name of all the holy trees could Meron speak or utter such vile sentiments to someone who was so much younger to them. Rhea did not even react or flinch at his words.

She smiled and said,” I wish I had, you know Meron, so that I could have turned you into the toad like you are with a snap. You have no idea how satisfying it would have been!!!”

The entire class burst out in laughter at her words and the manner in which she spoke them.. This girl had the spirit of an oak and the backbone of a cypress with fingers like thorns of cactus…she was an incredible creature and they were marveled at the way she formulated her comebacks.

Meron was furious at the way she spoke to him and also infuriated since the class supported her with their laughter.

“Why are you all laughing? Does this seem funny? Does this seem funny to any of you that she is better at painting than all of you and has finished something in a record time? Does this seem normal to you that she is not even half our age but has been given the opportunity to graduate along with all of you?  Are you not riled up by the fact that she is nothing else but a mongrel?”  asked Meron in a loud voice when a huge boy, who towered over Meron by a feet but was very gentle in his behavior came out of the back and then looked down at him.

“You are not a part of this class. You are not a part of the Faculty which teaches us. You actually have no right to be here, then why are you disturbing the peace and quiet of the class? The sanctity of the place is being disturbed by your presence, so please leave or I shall be forced to do that for you and it is not going to be a beautiful sight to behold,” said the boy with a calm voice.

Rhea said suddenly,” One quick question, do you guys have balls like all the males? Or it comes in different ways of angiosperms and gymnosperms which we study in the reproduction of the plants?”

In the beginning after she finished speaking there was pin drop silence in the entire classroom for a few moments and then a girl snorted out suddenly understanding the reason why she had asked the question. The laughter spread in the classroom like wildfire and Meron felt that he would have been better buried somewhere rather than be humiliated at the hands of a creature of such birth and parentage. He raised his arm to slap Rhea who was standing in front of him looking at him with disdain but could not. Before Rhea could react his hand was caught by the large boy and then it was held with such force that Meron winced with pain.

“You have overstepped your position and your authority for quite some time. And Rhea Masterson is much more of a Druid than you can ever dream of becoming. She is not a mongrel or of low birth for she was born of love, you are the one who was a disgrace to your family which is the reason you had to be shifted here. And never ever think of raising your hands on a woman, she is not an ordinary girl. You are correct on that count. She is the one who keeps the capability of scarring you for life. Now get the hell out of this classroom and never dare to show your presence here,” said the huge boy while Rhea stood there gaping at his words and his reaction.

Someone trying to beat her, slap her and disgrace her she could deal with. She was habituated with rough behavior and treatment which was pretty common behavior amongst wolves but never ever in her life had anyone defended her honour except her elder brother Lukas. But now, here this huge boy was standing before here like a massive giant, a gentle giant who had shown Meron his place. Meron could not say anything after hearing those words and then he went out of the room nursing his sprained wrist. The boy did not even glance at her after that.

Rhea asked one of her classmates named Garcia about the boy who spoke for her sake, who he was.

“He is one of the Druids from faraway mountains, of the species of mountain oaks. They are known for the strength of their character and their backbone, along with their huge size. They actually cannot stand the fact if someone bullies anyone weaker than them. It is like cutting off their branches, it is so immensely painful,” Garcia had said at the end of the class as the girls showed her the way to the dormitory where she was supposed to rest for a few hours before taking any kind of journey and also after class.

“Why am I supposed to rest? I am not at all tired,” said Rhea, in a surprised voice.

“We are the creatures who are the souls of plants and trees and everything green on the surface of this earth. We firmly believe that the knowledge that you have received is supposed to be assimilated inside you only after siltation. That is the reason, peace, quiet and rest are necessary for the students and scholars,” a girl had said and rhea had nodded at her thoughtfully. It made a certain amount of sense and she was not going to say no to a few hours of sleep.

Unaware of her own heart beating or the rise and fall of her chest, she drifted into semi-consciousness.  She would never sleep a wink in the city with all that noise and hub-bub. An incense stick burned at her open window, some lavender drifted out to meet the spring air and just the right amount stayed in the room, just a hint. Her camomile tea had long gone cold and it was later than she suspected. When she opened her heavy lids the room was already twilight and the candles had extinguished themselves.

August is brutal but the lake is cool. Away from the shade the insects stay away, lurking a way off in the shadows of the trees – limp leaves, thirsty roots. Even with shades on the lake is a glitter of diamonds, every one of them more valuable than the real thing – those stones that are so common and so rare. The shore is a beach of rock, trucked in from the quarry, rough but an improvement on the mud.