A Mutual Favor

On the seventh day of entering the forest, my horse hit a giant, sharp rock, whinnied in pain and threw me forward. I hit the floor with a thud and yelled. I turned to my horse, raised my fist, and shouted.

“What the hell was that for, you bloody beast?!”

The horse turned around and ran.

“Hey, come back here!”

I sprinted towards the horse, but it ran too fast for me, and I panted, losing my stamina with each passing second. Soon I was spent and walked to a thick willow surrounded by a ring of rocks. I sat there and buried my face in my hands.

Not only did my brother disappear, but now the horse! And the bird eluded me! I was no closer! I still did not know about the trinket my father wanted, or if I could ever return to my home. I think I lost my way!

I turned and punched the tree; next I knelt and pressed my face to the trunk. Perhaps I would stay here for the rest of the day. I did not feel like doing anything else, like everything was just pointless.

Just one final time, I reached into my pouch to look at the feather. But this time it glowed red!

“What’s this? Has the young one lost his way?” said a lovely soothing female voice above me.

I looked up, and the bird flew to the tree while letting out a call. Its varied colours shone on me, as I stood there in awe with my jaw open. It then landed on one of the low branches of the willow and faced me with its prominent cute pink eyes.

“You search for something, but do not know what it is. I usually fly away from your kind, as more pressing and concerning things attract my attention. But I have seen you struggle and fall then pick yourself up again. You are aching in pain, yet you refuse to stop. Why is that, and what is your name?” she asked.

“My name is Bratko. I am the noble son of Lord Vlad of Boyko and the younger brother of Boyan. Our father sent us to hunt a trinket, but on the way, we stopped at the Iris Inn and drunk our memories away, so we could no longer remember what we were doing there. Until the day I came outside and saw you. Your beauty took my heart, mesmerized me from the beginning. I could not hold back my touch. Looking back, I don’t think I should have done that or taken your feather. I apologize”

I extended my hand to the bird.

“All forgiven. Continue.”

“Ever since I got your feather, I have been drawn to it, yet I did not want to hunt you at first. My brother came up with the idea, yet the desire grew, as I did not know what I was looking for, and even when I remembered that it was my father’s trinket, I still cannot recall it’s appearance. But me and my brother have been split up. My horse left me too. My own distractions, my weak will, they have brought me to this point where I am lost! None of this would happen if I didn’t have the attention span of a goldfish and I was focused! My father’s trinket, whatever it is, would still be in the castle! I am weak!”

The bird extended its long head towards me.

“No, you are not. You are perseverant and strong, have rode on for days even when you did not exactly know where you were going. You have escaped seemingly impossible, deadly situations.”

“Yeah, only with the help of my feather, not due to anything I myself did!”

“It is because I chose you, Bratko. I sensed there was something to you ever since you took my feather. Because you have not stopped”

“Where is my horse and my brother? By the way, what is your name?”

“My name shall come later. Your horse needs a break, but it shall return to you when ready. Your brother is mostly fine, as his physical strength has protected him. But he is angry. His hubris has slowed him down, prevented him from finding you. He has cursed you in jealousy, as he feels that the feather should have come to him, that he should have been the one to encounter me.”

I lowered my head.

“That’s terrible. Do you know where my father’s trinket is? Please, I need it back!”

“I may, but first I want you to do something for me.”

“What? Why can’t I have the trinket now?!”

“A mutual favour. I need water from the Pool of Many Colors, but it is not easy to access, and I cannot get there myself. I think you may be the worthy one to do so. Once you collect some, I will help you.”

“But why do you need it?”

“Trust me.”

At this point, a spiritual love for the bird grew in my heart. Not just an appreciation for its colourful beauty, but almost as if it was a human. I did not know why. I was confused. Overwhelmed. Now that I had been chosen, that this bird, who avoided everyone else, had come down to speak to me, I was galvanized. My confidence returned. I stood tall and faced the bird.

“I will do this task for you, if I can find the place” I replied.

“The feather will serve as a guide. The closer you get, the brighter it will burn red. This will take a great deal of faith. Go, and you shall find what you seek. I will stay here until you return.”

I turned around and walked out of the rocky ring into the oak forest. I followed my senses and headed towards an avenue of big oaks. Bounded by tall grass on both sides sat a small ravine. I followed it and listened to the flowing water. On occasion I heard some chirps. I raised my head at hearing one of them and a sparrow hawk flew over me. I took out the feather, which was still gold. But I continued until the stream turned three ways. I turned to the left side and heard more chirps.

A blue jay flew across the stream. I took out the feather again, and it had turned a slight red colour, orange, and shone slightly. I pushed on and the oaks’ leaves became greener.

Eventually the stream plunged down into a waterfall, and I reached a cliff with a chasm in front. At the bottom of the chasm flowed a river. A broken, weak, and rusty wooden bridge with many missing planks spanned the chasm.

I checked the feather again, and it now burned a bright red. This was the path. But how could I walk across that bridge in front of me? It was too dangerous; I may fall to my death.

I took a deep breath and placed my hand on my chest. I could do it. The planks were close enough for me to be able to step on them. I just needed to tread slowly and carefully, to hold on the ropes for balance, and above all to have faith.

I grabbed both ropes and stepped on the first plank. It held. I extended my other foot to the other plank, about a metre away. I continued to step slowly on the planks, always holding on to the ropes for support, looking below me and making sure I had balance. But the farther planks were further apart, and I needed to lunge.

When I took another step a few metres away from the end of the bridge, the plank I stepped on cracked in half, and I shrieked as I fell forward. But my arms kept hold of the ropes beside me, and using them, I moved forward before reaching another plank, which I placed my feet upon. My arms felt a bit like lead at this point, yet I moved through the other planks before reaching the final one.

The other side still sat two metres away. But I took another deep breath. Faith. I jumped across and grabbed the rocky edge with both my hands and pulled up with all my strength. Although I grunted, I was able to pull myself up and I walked through a small open-air rocky entrance before reaching the glade.

If I could have said that the bird was the most beautiful I had ever seen, I might have said the same about the pool. It had an oblong shape, glittering with many colours like a kaleidoscope, and it reflected its many colours in the surrounding area. Delphiniums, roses, nasturtiums, and sunflowers surrounded the pool, bounded by gray-white cliffs.

I marched towards the pool and took out my water canteen, which I filled to the top. My feelings of thirst and fatigue caught up to me, so I took a drink from the pool myself. Energy returned to my body like lightning. I sat by the pool for a few seconds, admiring the sight. Did the sun’s reflection cause such colours to appear in the pool? Something in the water? Or maybe both? Maybe this place was holy? Whatever, I admired it. I walked in there and splashed myself with the water.

When I finished my reverie, I left the glade and returned to the bridge. I jumped to the last plank and walked up to the halfway point of the bridge. But at that time the bridge began to wobble, not able to hold weight. I immediately grabbed one of the ropes with my hands as hard as I could to keep my balance. The ropes began to untangle and snap, the planks fell to the river below, and the bridge snapped in half.

Still holding the rope, I swung forward with it to the other side of the cliff, screaming in fear. I hit the cliff face and fell on a projecting piece of thin rock on the cliff face. I looked up, but the top was too far. The rope that I used has also swung to the right, out of my reach. The other rope, the one to my left, had fallen, and only the wooden post that it had been attached to remained. I was trapped down here.

But soon, among the late afternoon sun I detected a figure looking down at me. I realized it was my brother Boyan. Hope swelled up inside me. I jumped and waved my arms.

“Brother! I need your help! Please throw me that rope so I can pull myself up!”

My brother constricted his eyebrows and gritted his teeth for a second, but then his expression returned to normal.

“Throw me your pouch, your fur coat and your hat!” he replied.

“But why do you need them? Just help me!”

“You might be less burdened while climbing!”

“I can climb just fine with them! Come on!”

“No time to argue. You throw me these things and I’ll throw you the rope!”

I grumbled at my brother’s stubbornness but decided that I would rather get the rope sooner than later. I tossed the pouch to him at first. Then I took off my fur coat, revealing my white camise underneath. Finally, I threw him my hat.

He put on the coat and hat and placed the water in his pouch. After that, he walked up to the rope and grabbed it. I kept my eyes on him the entire time, and my body trembled with impatience. My brother then gave me a smirk.

“What are you waiting for? Toss me the rope!”

“Sorry brother, the water will be mine, along with the bird’s favour.”

He brought the whole rope up the cliff to the ground where he left it there, entirely out of my access, and ran away. My eyes widened in disbelief. The bird told the truth about my brother. He had betrayed me, left me all alone here to die, with nothing to save me. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists.

“I hate you Boyan! Damn you!” I screamed from the top of my lungs.

I punched the cliff face three times, sat down, and placed my head in my hands. I did not want to die, but I was so afraid. My entire body shook. Everything had fallen apart for me. I could not hold myself together. Eventually the flurry of tears came. What did I do to deserve this?!

I stared at the river. Should I just jump off? End it now? My eyes did not move from the spot for a while, but eventually I decided against it. I lay down on the rock, looking up at the reddening afternoon sky. No matter what happened, I wanted some rest.