around a person and strangle him at Coyote’s word. But outside the forest, he was only powerful in personal magic and might not be a match for the might of the Magician King and the eight royal families. It would be a battle that neither could be certain of winning.”
“Coyote changed himself with a spell so that he looked just like you or me, and he entered the gardens as a visitor, as the Magician King encouraged his citizens to do. Coyote was wily and looked for the Magician King’s traps to fall upon him, but nothing happened.”
“It was possible to stay in the garden for as long as you wanted. The King provided free food for guests, though it was rumored that if you stayed too long someone might throw you out. But nobody threw out Coyote and he stayed for many days, admiring the wonderful plants and animals that resided in the gardens.”
“One day, he noticed that the sky was black towards the south. The wind had previously been blowing from the north, but its direction changed and foul black clouds hung in the sky. Coyote ran from the gardens and hurried back to his forest in great fear. When he arrived at where his forest had been he found only burning stumps.”
“For the Magician King had not sought to confront Coyote, but had awaited his arrival in the garden and then started his carefully worked out plan. For three hundred leagues into the forest, men had travelled and started fires to clear the land for farming. The Magician King had reasoned that once this section of the forest was cleared, Coyote would accept it, so the people and the forest could live in harmony once again.”
“They say that Coyote’s howls of anguish were heard across the world when he saw what man had done to his forest. Exactly as the Magician King had reasoned, Coyote saw no point in war and the land was conceded.”
“For many years, the people of the world lived in harmony, tilling the land that once had been forest and the population grew to vast numbers the like of which had never been seen before. Then the land began to fail, as did the crops. It turned parched and dusty and the soil blew away in the hot winds of summer leaving only sand behind. The High King travelled to where the edge of the forest was supposed to be in the hope of stealing yet more land, but he found that it was already dead or dying as rain no longer fell from the sky as once it did.”
“No one knows what happened to Coyote, or whether there is still a forest if you travel far enough. The Attribar el’Dou desert formed in only a few summers and you cannot travel through it. It is so hot and dry that its sand cuts into you and chokes the life from your lungs.”
“Many people died in the decades that followed and the Magician Kings banned the cutting of the forests to the north. When the Magician Kings were killed in the war with the Fairie, the forests of the land grew back and the people grew fewer still. But the great raining forest where Attribar el’Dou is now never grew back and there is only desert.”
“It is said that in the old tongue, Attribar el’Dou means ‘the stupidity of kings’.”
Jalia noted that Yeta and Maya had fallen asleep and put a blanket over their curled up forms. Daniel watched her with something that looked suspiciously like respect.
“It was only a story my mother used to tell me, Daniel. It couldn’t possibly be true.”
A Dish Served…
Daniel awoke to the sound of a badger snuffling among the remnants of their evening meal. It was well before dawn and the fire had died down to little more than grey embers. He looked over to where Jalia was sleeping and saw to his amusement that the little girls had snuggled close during the night. Since Jalia’s senses were razor sharp, he knew she must have decided to let them. The children were probably the reason she hadn’t woken to the sound of the badger, it was unusual for her to let anyone sleep so near to her.
Daniel mused on his own relationship
“Coyote changed himself with a spell so that he looked just like you or me, and he entered the gardens as a visitor, as the Magician King encouraged his citizens to do. Coyote was wily and looked for the Magician King’s traps to fall upon him, but nothing happened.”
“It was possible to stay in the garden for as long as you wanted. The King provided free food for guests, though it was rumored that if you stayed too long someone might throw you out. But nobody threw out Coyote and he stayed for many days, admiring the wonderful plants and animals that resided in the gardens.”
“One day, he noticed that the sky was black towards the south. The wind had previously been blowing from the north, but its direction changed and foul black clouds hung in the sky. Coyote ran from the gardens and hurried back to his forest in great fear. When he arrived at where his forest had been he found only burning stumps.”
“For the Magician King had not sought to confront Coyote, but had awaited his arrival in the garden and then started his carefully worked out plan. For three hundred leagues into the forest, men had travelled and started fires to clear the land for farming. The Magician King had reasoned that once this section of the forest was cleared, Coyote would accept it, so the people and the forest could live in harmony once again.”
“They say that Coyote’s howls of anguish were heard across the world when he saw what man had done to his forest. Exactly as the Magician King had reasoned, Coyote saw no point in war and the land was conceded.”
“For many years, the people of the world lived in harmony, tilling the land that once had been forest and the population grew to vast numbers the like of which had never been seen before. Then the land began to fail, as did the crops. It turned parched and dusty and the soil blew away in the hot winds of summer leaving only sand behind. The High King travelled to where the edge of the forest was supposed to be in the hope of stealing yet more land, but he found that it was already dead or dying as rain no longer fell from the sky as once it did.”
“No one knows what happened to Coyote, or whether there is still a forest if you travel far enough. The Attribar el’Dou desert formed in only a few summers and you cannot travel through it. It is so hot and dry that its sand cuts into you and chokes the life from your lungs.”
“Many people died in the decades that followed and the Magician Kings banned the cutting of the forests to the north. When the Magician Kings were killed in the war with the Fairie, the forests of the land grew back and the people grew fewer still. But the great raining forest where Attribar el’Dou is now never grew back and there is only desert.”
“It is said that in the old tongue, Attribar el’Dou means ‘the stupidity of kings’.”
Jalia noted that Yeta and Maya had fallen asleep and put a blanket over their curled up forms. Daniel watched her with something that looked suspiciously like respect.
“It was only a story my mother used to tell me, Daniel. It couldn’t possibly be true.”
A Dish Served…
Daniel awoke to the sound of a badger snuffling among the remnants of their evening meal. It was well before dawn and the fire had died down to little more than grey embers. He looked over to where Jalia was sleeping and saw to his amusement that the little girls had snuggled close during the night. Since Jalia’s senses were razor sharp, he knew she must have decided to let them. The children were probably the reason she hadn’t woken to the sound of the badger, it was unusual for her to let anyone sleep so near to her.
Daniel mused on his own relationship
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