Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Lady Sophia
Malakh pulled out a couple of thick ropes, laying them on the floor beside his knee as he rumbled through the large sack for what only he knew. Ingor waited patiently as he pulled out and repacked oddly shaped trinkets, weapons and cloths till finally, still buried shoulders-deep in the sack, he clicked his tongue. "There you are," he mused, withdrawing himself from the sack, an object in his right hand, "found it." He announced proudly, handing it to her as he picked up the ropes and got to his feet.
She looked over the item lying in his open palm. A golden hilt. She took it carefully scanning the lion head pommel and its guards, eagles wings.
"Where's the blade?" she asked, offering it back to him.
He shook his head, "It's yours. The blade comes from within you."
Ingor stared at the object in her hand, then slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans before taking the rope from Malakh and slinging it over her shoulder as she stared up at the tree. She watched him knot one end of the rope to a boomerang shaped object, then threw it over the lowest branch, it wrapped itself a few times over it and remained stable after he tugged on it. He smiled at her, waiting for her to follow his lead and she just shrugged.
"I don't have that," she pointed to the object hanging from the branch, "that thing?"
"Oh," he said, "it's the guard of your hilt. It's detachable."
"Huh?" she pulled it out, looking over it, "how is that even possible?"
"If you believe, anything is possible, milady." He placed his hands on hers, gently guiding them as she pressed the guard to the grip, then turned it and pulled it off and Ingor blushed at the warmth of his soft skin. He was definitely not human. She tied the knot the same, tossing it over another one of the lower branches, she had to try a number of times before finally pulling on a steady rope. She smiled proudly at him, then swung her feet onto the trunk and began to walk up the tree. Malakh shrugged and did the same.
They both climbed, laughing and chatting merrily, until the ground was no longer visible and the valley lay stretched out before them. Ingor looked out over the winsome scene as the glitter of the stream held her gaze. It was awesome. The trees were greener, and the colour of the flowers more vibrant. She could see almost the whole valley from here and she watched as people came in and out, as others, dressed like Malakh, guided and spoke to them, and some heard and some didn't. She sat for a long while on the high branch, just watching, until Malakh urged her to keep climbing.
"But why do we need to?" she asked, "We're high enough, aren't we?"
"Don't be deceived," he answered, tightening the knot of her cloak, "we're looking for wisdom, not knowledge in itself. Look around you."
Ingor looked around the tree branches. To her surprise, she noticed a handful of people, scattered across different branches, staring fixedly over the valley.
"Knowledge, in and of itself, isn't evil," Malakh told her, "but when knowledge becomes the goal, it can be very dangerous. Watch." he gestured to the other branches around them.
She watched the people sitting on them, noticing how shrivelled and discoloured they looked. The only thing that seemed to be alive about them was their eyes. They stared over the valley for a long while, until one of them looked over himself, gasped and then reached for a cluster of leaves hanging not far above his head. He fumbled through them, retreating his hand with a small fruit, like a large grape, then ate it. As the man swallowed, his skin suddenly became vibrant and whole as he watched. He smiled to himself, then stared back out over the valley. Then as suddenly as it had healed, his skin began to shrivel as it changed colour to a sickly greenish grey.
Ingor clapped a hand over her mouth as a small cry escaped her, "What happened?" she whispered to Malakh, "he was alright a moment ago."
"This tree," he said gravely, "like all the others, gets its life from the stream. The waters flow through it, nourishing it, but the fruit of the tree of knowledge will not sustain you for very long. If you'll remain strengthened, you need to drink from the stream itself. When you substitute the waters of the stream with the things that draw life from it, you may receive an initial boost, but that boost won't last very long and, sooner or later, you'll be right back to where you started, and sometimes even worse, because you don't realise you're running on empty, until you become shrivelled and die while you're still alive."
Ingor watched on, shaking her head in sorrow as the tears ran down her cheeks, "But there must be something we can do?"
"They're filled with knowledge, these ones," Malakh shook his head, "there's not much you can say to them that they don't already know, so it's highly unlikely that they'll listen to you."
"But we have to try," She protested, struggling with her cloak as she tried to get to her feet and balance herself on the branch, "we can't just leave them there." She pushed the cloak behind her, trying to reach for the nearest branch as it got in her way again and Ingor grunted in irritation, pulling at the knot Malakh had made.
"Milady," he stood too, reaching out a hand for hers, "you shouldn't take it off."
"It's getting in my way," she said irritably.
"That's because you're not going the right way," he watched her face contort, then added quickly, "if you'd permit me to say. This cloak is special, whenever you find that it's getting in your way, it's a sign that you're probably not doing the right thing. These people," he gestured to them, "are more likely to hurt you than to hear you."
"So how would you suggest we help them then?" she folded her arms angrily and he retreated his hand.
"Lady Sophia will tell us." he smiled.
"Who's Lady Sophia?"
"She's the one who owns this tree," he said proudly, "Lady Sophia and her sister are the ones who win wars and guide the…" he considered his choice of words for a moment, "humans. She'll know what to do."
Ingor looked at the people, then back at him, "but there must be something we can do now?"
"It's not everything you see that you must immediately do something about," he said, unwrapping their ropes from the branch and handing hers to her, "sometimes, the best thing you could do immediately is nothing. Just because you can see it milady, doesn't mean you are qualified to deal with it. Now," he threw his rope, fastening it around a branch far above him, "let's go find someone who is."
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