039 - Sky Beyond Sky

Magnus searched the woods around the shrine until the sun set. No luck, not even a hint of a boar. It would be so simple, find a boar, thump it in the head, carry it back, right? Wrong. Wrong, wrong wrong. He'd trapped many a boar and wild pig in the past in the forests around Kloster, there the forest paths and sets and barrows were familiar. Well, nothing to it. Boar are most likely to be found either at dawn or dusk, Magnus knew that much.

For a long drawn out afternoon Magnus wandered fruitlessly up and down the animal tracks. There were plenty of living things, all sorts of game and beasts prowling here and there, but not a boar.

It was dusk, dim half-light, the sun long set behind the rolling hills now. Magnus knew roughly where he was, roughly where the shrine lay. He could hear a river nearby, must be the same river that ran by the shrine.

A sudden rustling from a clump of bushes, a snort and squeal. Magnus ran forwards, from the bushes. A large grey bristle backed wild boar glared at him with beady eyes. Magnus thought of all the cattle and farm creatures made giant in Kloster. This boar would have been a runt besides them. It turned its head, snorting and baring gnarled tusks. Magnus expected it to run, but the boar stamped the earth with its trotters.

What luck, what luck!

The boar grunted, charging fearlessly right at Magnus. He braced himself, the ground shook, the boar charged. Magnus grinned; his fist drawn back. The big boar charged, snorting hot air and rushing straight into Magnus, its head ploughing into his chest.

Magnus stuck out his left hand letting the boar strike him and push him back several feet. Then, carefully, oh so delicately, Magnus bought his closed fist down on the side of the large boars head.

It squealed, falling on its side and rolling twice. Magnus frowned. Too hard? He looked over the boar, it's let out a low beastial whine struggling to move. Well, that oughta be alright, nearly uninjured, right? Eh, close enough. Magnus heaved it up and set off back to Kujata at the shrine.

"Big sis! Big sis!" Magnus called out.

Kujata leaned out of the window. The area behind the shrine building was a small dirt courtyard and a well, beneath the window were several heaps of bones and discarded gourds.

"One boar," Magnus tossed the unconscious beast on the ground. "One cart of booze." He pointed over to the cart.

"Easy work, right?" Kujata jumped down from the window. "What's that? New clothes?"

"Yeah, got some for you too. Well . . I thought that if all you were wearing was that shirt . . " Magnus stuttered.

"I like this shirt. Nothing wrong with this shirt." Kujata snatched the coin purse from his hand and put a gourd to her mouth, biting off the cork. "Not bad, not bad. A passing grade. Right is right, time for your first lesson as my fifth disciple." She gulped down a mouthful of wine. "I'm going to show you the proper way to eat that boar."

Magnus tied the boars legs together and put it in the centre of the yard while Kujata placed several smooth stones around it. Following her instructions he sat next to the struggling creature.

"Now," Kujata returned to the telescope. "Shut your eyes. Bring out a living thread. We're going to skip the theory. I've always said you learn best by doing."

"But . . but what am I doing? I don't know how to bring the living thingy out!"

"Just shut your eyes. Concentrate, its easy, just think about the tip of your finger. It's itchy right? Well, with your eyes shut Magnus, just visualize a red thread coming out from your finger tip." Kujata held her hand up, a single red thread shot out and spun through the air. "Easy."

Magnus shut his eyes and focused on the tip of his finger. An itch, a cool electric feeling. He opened his eyes and gasped - a single red thread dangled from the tip of his forefinger, floating in the air before him.

"That easy, see?" Kujata laughed, gulping down another mouthful. "Now, stick it into the boar. Through the head, that'll be best, don't want to go eating it arse first! Ha!" She fell back laughing.

Magnus stood, walking over to the boar and putting his hand on its head. The creature's eyes were wide in panic, it fought desperately against its bonds. The thread passed through its skin, through its skull. Magnus felt as if he were reaching deep into the boar, not just into its flesh, but into the essence, the very boar-y-ness. It was like an inner ocean, an immense world made from endless lights and sparks, each with sound and smell and colour to it. A flood of smells and sounds washed into his mind, intense animal instincts, the desire to flee, the need to run and charge and -

"Whoa! Pull back there, easy now." Kujata voice yanked Magnus back into reality, he pulled his hand away from the boar's head.

"What the hells was that?"

"You stuck a living thread right into the mind of a living creature, had a glimpse at its essence. Had a good looksee? Well, do it again. This time Magnus, focus in. See yourself, don't let yourself go into the creature. You've got to see it as food. Shoot your living thread right into its core and swallow it whole." Kujata flung down the empty gourd, swiftly uncorking another. "And be quick about it, I'm getting awful hungry."

Magnus raised his hand, put the red thread up to the boar's head.

Devour. Swallow. Consume.

The most primal of instincts, the very basic of necessities for any living creature. Magnus focused, the wave of animal emotions washed about the red thread, a thousand forest scents, the need to eat and rut and charge . . Magnus cut through it all, his single thread growing and getting longer.

Food . . hunger . . how long has it been since I was hungry? I haven't eaten anything in . . in weeks . . how long. My throat is dry, my lips are cracked. Have I always been this thirsty? Magnus licked his lips, a growl emerged from his belly. Never before, not even when he'd gone three days without a proper meal, not even during the harshest of winters had Magnus ever felt a hunger like this. His desire to devour rose to a peak, the living thread responded to this desire, trembling in the inner mind of the boar and growing immense.

In a flash it encircled the entire world of instinct and emotions, every part of the thread shone. A hundred tiny fibres shot out, an intense suction force pulling every sound and scent, every ounce of vitality to it.

A thousand open mouths, biting and chewing all at once. The inner world crushed and devoured, pulled into the threads and swallowed. Magnus felt an immense vitality flow into him, better than any meal or the soundest of sleeps; a revitalizing force flowed through every part of his body, from his blood to his bones. Like a thirsty desert during a sudden rainfall, Magnus swallowed every drop of force, his intense hunger barely satiated.

Then it was over. The inner world cracked, turning dark and fragmenting. Magnus felt a sharp pain and blinked, he was back in the courtyard, back with his hand against the boar's head. It lay still, its eyes blank, dead.

"Not bad, still hungry, right?" Kujata tossed over a gourd. "Drink. Drink, everything is better with a bit of booze in your belly." She waited until he'd swallowed a mouthful. "Lesson one; how to eat. Pretty easy, right? Well, here's lesson two for you; Never, and I mean abso-bloody-lutly never, ever let anyone see you do this. Got that?"