Chapter 3

Ledger took off running as the boards behind him broke and fell into the river below. Coming up to another gap, he jumped and the mass of the pack pulled him back, then slammed him forwards across the gap when it caught up to him. His feet hit the boards and more shattered as he stepped clear, now at a full sprint. He saw the third gap ahead of him, the largest missing section of the bridge. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit,” was all he kept saying as he jumped the gap. Again, the mass of the pack slammed into his back making him scream in pain. This hit felt like the time he fell from a high tree and landed square on his back. That had hurt like hell then, and this hurt as bad now.

Much to his surprise and relief, he made it over the hole in the bridge. Even still, he didn’t slow down as boards kept cracking under his feet as he stepped on them. It was only when he reached shore and was back on solid ground that he tried to slow down to catch his breath. The pack heavy, moving pack had other plans. He tried to slow his legs and body, but the pack kept pushing him along. It pushed him over as gravity dragged it down until his chest was on the ground. It continued dragging him along for a good twenty feet before his body dragged it to a stop. Ledger groaned in pain as the rough ground and stones had torn into his shirt, cutting his chest and stomach to ribbons. He just lay there and waited to make sure the pack had finally come to a full stop. Once he felt it was safe, he released his hold on the bag and it suddenly had its full weight back. Ledger cursed himself for not thinking of the consequences of his actions. The bag was holding him to the ground. He noticed something else as he lay there. An odor, a rotten, shit odor. He looked forwards the way he had been going and saw a pile of moldering horse dung less than a foot from his face. “Oh that was close,” he muttered in disgust.

With great effort, he worked his arms from the straps and was able to finally roll enough to tip the pack off his back. Now that he was on his side he was able to look down and see that his shirt was in ruins. He was careful not to roll into the pile in front of him. That would have just made his day worse if he had. “Damn, this was a good shirt.” He sat up and felt the pulling on his front. Dirt had been driven into the cuts and had begun to burn. “Damn, damn, and damn!” He yelled. He knew he couldn’t just throw the shirt away, he would have to repair it. It was all the cuts that had him worried. He struggled around and managed to sit up. Now he was able to dig into the various pockets of the pack hoping to find the first-aid kit that he knew had been packed. Not finding anything in the sides or top pockets, he dug deeper into the oversized bag. Near the bottom, he came across a small bag that had bandages and creams in it. “Figures,” he muttered, “all the way down. And what is all this stuff?” He was looking at the pile of clothes and tools. Some of the tools he knew how to use, a few he lifted and looked at but had no idea at what they might be for. “Better get myself cleaned up and patched. I can’t afford the wounds going bad on me.” He made his way to the river he had just crossed and looked around for a calm spot that he could settle into to clean the wounds. He finally found an eddy pool a few minutes upstream. He was tempted to just jump in but knew he had things to do before he could take the time for that. The foremost being returning to his gear and repacking it and dragging it all to the riverside first.

Ledger sighed in relief when he saw that everything was where had left it. He decided that his mother had thrown it all together in the hurry to get him away from home as fast as possible. “Ok Mother, I have no idea on the best way to do this, so it will be a pack that needs work as I go and learn.” He stuffed all the clothing in first without folding or rolling so they took more room than they should have. The tools, both known and unknown, tied them into a bundle to carry in his hands. In this ungainly manner, he made his way back to the pool and soon had a rough camp set up.

The one tool he was sure of was flint and steel. He started to use it then giggled. “Why would I need to use this when I can do this.” He pointed a finger at the pile of kindling and willed it to heat up. In a few seconds, the small pile of sticks had burst into flames. So enthusiastic was the flame, several sticks popped out of the pile and landed on the dry grass next to him. Ledger reacted quickly and was able to stomp them out before the fire could spread. He added a few larger branches to the fire and soon the fire making a cheerful popping and crackling as it fed on the semi-dry wood. One piece of the gear Ledger had kept out was a cooking pot. This time as he tried to stand, the world took a sharp right turn and he fell on his butt. “Oh crap, not good,” he said. Ledger rolled forwards and was able to crawl to the water’s edge. Here he stripped down and slowly slid into the ice-cold water. “This river must come straight down from the mountains,” he said, his teeth already chattering from the cold. Rather than wait to freeze, he brushed at the wounds to get them cleaned of blood and dirt. It took a few minutes but he was able to finally see how bad the damage turned out to be.

Removing the clotted blood and dirt had started the cuts bleeding again. He crawled on hands and knees back to the fire which had settled down to a pile of glowing coals by this time. He set a few more small branches to the fire and it was soon crackling away merrily once more. This done, Ledger poured the last of his water from home into the cooking pot and started it warming by the fire. He knew from some time hunting with his father that he would need to make a set of supports to keep the pot out of the flames. While the water heated, he wiped the cuts and saw that they were not as deep as he had feared. Just a bad scraping of the skin by the small stones on the road. He opened a small jar of ointment that his mother used on cuts to keep them from festering. Once he had rubbed a small amount into each scrape, he closed the jar and returned it to the part of the pack it had been in. He had used as little as possible so as not to run out of it too soon.

He didn’t have any way to cover the scrapes, so for now, he left them open to the air. He knew he might have issues later in the year if they didn’t heal fast enough, but it was still just after mid-winter and the bugs had not awoken from their yearly sleep. Winter this year had been very mild compared to the normal freezing rains and snows. He would still need to be careful as a winter storm could blow in without warning and he could be in grave danger from the cold. Ledger felt the water in the pot and it was hot now. He knew he could have made the water in the pot boil with a thought, but he didn’t want to have to rely on a power he did not understand. It was hot enough for what he needed now.

One pouch he knew had dried meat and vegetables in it. He took a small amount of each and soaked them in the water to make a thin stew. This would have to do for this night, he thought. As he ate, he looked up at the sky and could tell he still had several hours of daylight remaining.

This time he figured would be best used in repacking his bag and figuring out what all the tools and items in the bag were for. As he emptied the pack, he began to realize how much of a sheltered life he had lived. He knew he had very few skills that would allow him to survive in the wild on his own. His parents had focused on him learning to use the inborn powers that had been inherited from his mother. He had found them, and now he was sure these powers had cost her, her life. He hoped that those that still lived did not come after him. He could not stop them in a fight. Those were skills his parents had not seen fit to train him in. Ledger had to wonder about that set of decisions, but they would have to wait. Looking up again, he noted that the sun was getting closer to the horizon and would soon set for the night.

He settled down and set up his small tent and made it ready as well as he could figure it out to secure it to the ground. Has spotted several metal cleat holes around the base of the tents leather. “Tie-downs?” he wondered aloud. He turned back to his pack and dug around until he found several metal stakes that had oddly shaped hooks on the upper end. He was able to see that they had been driven into the ground before and pulled up many times from the scraped metal. He held one down next to the tent and saw that the hook was just the right size to reach the holes once driven into the dirt. He had seen a mallet in the bag and dug it out. The support poles fell over as he tried to draw the fabric tighter for the staking. Rather than fight it, he laid the leather flat and staked one side down.

Next, he started to stake the other side but saw the poles wouldn’t fit to lift the center. He set the front pole and was able to keep it upright now that the stakes were holding it in place for him. He thought he had it now and put in four more down the length of the tent. That done he pulled open what had to be the entrance and the poles started to fall towards him bringing the tent with them. He saw he had two more stakes. Ledger stood up and studied the tent, seeing where another stake might go. He saw the hole at the back and carefully pulled the tent back and set the stake in the ground, hooking the leather to the hook. This held it from going one way, but what about the other end.

Back at the entrance, he noted the rope that held the roll closed while traveling. Picking it up, he noted the loop sewn into it. Smiling he figured this last bit of the puzzle out. He pulled the rope away from the front until the poles were firmly held upright. He secured the rope on the last stake and the tent no longer threatened to fall over at the slightest movement or breeze.

“Ok, I have that worked out, but what about the inside.” He pulled the flap across the front open and looked at the bare ground. “A ground cover, that smaller piece of leather, I bet that is the ground cover for inside the tent.” He saw it was where he had left it next to the pack as he had dug out the mallet. He slid it into the tent and unrolled it. It was longer than the tent and a bit wider, but that didn’t seem to be an issue. One end tapered to a point, while the other was slightly rounded. Smiling, he worked the tapered end to the back, sliding it under the edge. It was while doing this, he saw the grommet holes on the ground cover. A quick look and he saw had the same number as the tent. “Oh, I see. Put the cover down, then the tent over, making them a single piece for the night. Well, I am not pulling up stakes tonight. Now I know.” He, of course, found he couldn’t lay the cover flat with the poles in place, forcing him to pull first one, then the other while sliding the cover in place.

Ledger was able to find enough loose dead wood to last the night but thought better of it. He didn’t want to risk the flames getting loose, burning the forest down around him. It was still late winter and everything was dry. He knew that would change in a few more weeks as the spring thaw began and the rains came. Once he had things the way he thought they should be, he pulled out more of the dried meat and took a few bites.

It was still early enough that he felt he could practice his power control. Ledger considered what to use. Stone was the easiest for some reason. Wood resisted a bit unless it was well dried. Metal took the power then ran out of control from his few attempts to work with any while still home. He was able to work with leather and cloth, but the reaction had proven unpredictable so far. He settled on a fist-sized stone. It seemed to have golden discolorations in it but did not look like metal. Before he started, he cleared the area around where he was going to place the stone of sticks. Looking at the cleared spot, he still wasn’t sure it would be enough.

Ledger reached into the tent and pulled out the small camp shovel. With it, he dug out a small depression, a foot deep and two across. Once he had this done to his satisfaction, he set the victim stone in the middle of the small pit. “Light first,” he thought and fed energy to the stone, weaving it in his mind to make light. In less than a second, the clearing was lit brighter than full daylight by a glowing stone in the pit. Ledger felt his energy slowly falling as he shielded his eyes. “Ok, back it off most of the way,” he thought. The stone dimmed and soon had only a gentle glow of a good candle. Now the power drop was barely noticeable. “I need to figure out how to set the effect so I am no longer the conduit for the power to keep it going.”