by John W Fort
CHAPTER 3
✧
The image of Raef walking through the forest blurred and faded. The water in the pool became foggy and rippled slightly before growing still again. Zul had not taken Erif up into the hills but had brought him to a pool of water on the scrub grass plains, near where he practiced his swordsmanship. Erif had never seen this pool before. Erif sat back against a small boulder and put his face into his hands.
“Yes, it is sad,” said Zul.
“Why didn’t you stop him?” asked Erif.
“Who, the dragon, or Raef?”
“Either one! You know what’s going to happen.”
“Of course.”
Erif felt his anger rise. He knew he had no right to be angry with the spirit, for spirits are superior to men, but he could not help it.
“So, why didn’t you stop it?”
The spirit paused and looked intently at Erif.
“Some things are meant to remain a mystery to men.”
“Stop taunting me!” said Erif, standing to face the spirit, “Why would you hide your reasons for refusing to help?”
The old spirit was a bit shorter than Erif, and obviously older, but Zul held himself with a strength that evaded even a Warrior like Erif.
“You are bound in time, why would you expect to reason as a spirit?”
“You doomed that youngling to a life of …”
“He doomed himself.”
“He is only a youngling!”
Zul gave Erif a curious look.
“You have never talked to me like that before,” the old spirit said.
“It is time someone challenged you! We don’t have the power to gaze into the future or to see what will happen if we do some foolish thing. You can, yet you sit and watch us destroy ourselves. How can you call yourself the Spirit of Peace?”
Erif paced angrily around the pool.
“This is good,” Zul said.
“What is good?”
“Your anger.”
Erif stopped and glared at Zul.
“You rarely let your anger out,” said Zul, “you will need it to face the dragon.”
Erif ran a hand through his hair, feeling it prickle between his fingers like brush bristles. He had taken the time to cut it regularly since coming to the island, though all he had to work with was a knife.
“You are not helping, old spirit.”
“Raef did not listen to his father, why would he listen to me? I force no one, you know that.”
“That is not fair, he is too young to understand.”
“I did not say it was fair.”
“So why not stop the dragon, then?”
“The dragon is very powerful. It has been granted the right to roam freely for now, so by my own word I must not interfere. This is an agreement between the Great Ones, and men have trouble understanding.”
“So, what then?”
“The villages must be made to understand.”
Erif kicked the sand but slowly relaxed and let out a long sigh.
“They do not understand,” said Erif, “That is why I am here.”
“That is not the only reason you are here, Erif,” Zul said.
Erif stopped and looked at the old spirit. He did not want to go down that road with the spirit. It was too painful. Then Erif grew a slight grin.
“You revealed your reasons to me after all. I do not understand, why did you not say this in the first place?”
A smile slowly crossed Zul’s face.
“I wanted you to feel your anger again.”
✧
Raef stood on the stream bank with his father. It has been several moon cycles since his trip into the deep woods and summer was nearly over. Even after so many journeys of the sun, he had not been able to forget seeing DeAlsím with the dragon. Although Raef had more questions about the dragon than ever, he tried not to think about them when he was with his father. Intercessors should not think of such things, he knew.
Raef loved trips to the stream to fish. Raef occasionally even caught one himself. Fishing was a job for Laborers or Merchants, who sold fish in the square, but Folor liked to fish, so he went on the rare occasions when his duties did not demand his attention. It was very rare when he asked Raef to join him.
The stream ran along the north edge of the village, just a short way into the forest. The trees were not as dense here, and it was common to see other villagers fishing, though this time no one else was present. Raef watched his father expertly toss the small square net into the center of the stream. Folor used a line secured to the net to guide it directly into a deep pool on the opposite side of the stream. They had to keep their distance, as the fish were skittish. Folor grew very still, holding the line tight with his right hand while resting a finger of his left against the line in front of him. Raef watched in silent awe. Suddenly, Folor stood and pulled furiously on the line, hand over hand. A silver fish two hand spans long squirmed in the net as it came ashore. As Folor removed the fish, he looked at his son.
“Here, you try the next one.” Folor said.
Raef nervously took the net. He could not toss it far enough to reach any of the deep pools, so he went downstream and dipped it near the bank. He waited, feeling his father’s eyes on him.
“No, not like that Raef! Let the line out more. The fish aren’t right here in the shallows.”
Raef pulled the net in and tossed it out farther. He hoped the net didn’t get all twisted up before a fish got in it.
Please, please, please, Raef begged the fish silently. He wanted Folor to see him catch one. He felt the line pull just a little. Raef jumped back and pulled hand over fist as fast as his arms would go. A small but very lively fish came up on the net. He held it up, beaming, to his father.
“Well done,” said Folor.
Raef smiled at his father, then down at his fish.
They fished a while longer before Folor said it was time to go home. Raef carried the string the fish were tied to, trying not to let them drag the ground. As they walked along the stream Raef saw something reflecting the sun from under the water. He stopped to look. The stream was very shallow here, and he saw the bed was covered in small stones. One of them seemed to sparkle when light hit it. As Folor went on ahead, Raef put the fish on the bank and waded out to retrieve the stone. It was about twice the size of his thumb. The stone was oval and perfectly smooth and almost completely transparent. Raef ran to his father to show him the treasure.
“Father, Father! Look what I found.”
Folor took the stone and held it up to the light. The sun shone right through it.
“It’s just a piece of quartz, worn round by the stream.” Folor said.
“Is it a…a treasure?”
“Not really,” said Folor, handing it back, “but I suppose it is unusual to find one so clear.”
“I like it.”
“You can keep this but no more. Your mother is already angry at the pile of stones you collect and keep under your mattress. Now go get the fish and let’s go home.”
Raef went back to get the stringer of fish and rejoined his father. Raef held the small stone tightly in his hand. They walked home in the dimming light. It seemed like a perfect sun’s journey. His clear stone would always remind him of it, he decided.
The next sunset, after last meal, Raef went outside to find someone to play with before it got dark. He saw Chaz alone at the forest edge. It was odd for Chaz to be in this part of the village where the Intercessors lived. Raef was happy to see him, however. Chaz was usually nicer when Keever and Liet were not around.
“Ho! Chaz,” called Raef.
Chaz looked up and squinted in his direction.
“Ho.”
“What ya doing?”
“Nothing.”
“How about a game?”
“What game?”
Raef thought frantically, trying to come up with a worthy game. He remembered the clear stone he now carried in a bag tied to his waist. He s
miled and pulled it out.
“We’ll have a treasure hunt,” said Raef, showing Chaz the stone. “We could have my sister hide it, and we could be explorers looking for it.”
Chaz’s eyes opened wide as he looked at the stone. Raef handed it to him.
“Where did you get it?” Chaz asked.
“I found it in a stream when I went fishing with Father.”
Chaz rolled the stone over in his hand.
“So, do you wanna play explorers, then?” Raef asked.
Chaz looked up and smiled, “Okay!”
Irah agreed with obvious reluctance to help them, and they spent all sunset searching for the stone between times she hid it. Chaz was pleasant the whole time, never once saying anything mean. He didn’t even trip Reaf for fun or punch his arm like he usually did. When Chaz’s father finally came looking for him Chaz gave Raef a soft slap on the arm and said, “See ya tomorrow!”
Raef returned to his home, changed into his night robe and got into bed. His sister was sleeping in her bed behind a curtain on the next wall. Raef’s mother and father were against the wall opposite his behind their privacy curtain. Raef had no curtain but his bed was under a window. The shudders were open so the moonlight could shine through. He lay on his back, the straw poking softly against him, and held the stone up to the window watching the moonlight shine through it. He smiled.
The following sunrise Chaz did not pay much attention to Raef at lessons. To Raef’s surprise, however, that sunset Raef saw Chaz coming down the path toward his house just after last meal.
“Ho, Raef!” Chaz called.
“Ho, yourself.”
“Wanna play treasure hunt again?”
“Sure!” said Raef.
Irah was harder to convince to hide the stone this time, but Raef’s mother finally intervened telling her to help her little brother. The next four sun’s journeys Raef and Chaz met in front of Raef’s home each sunset to play treasure hunt until one of them was called home. By the fifth sunrise they both had grown tired of the game. They sat on a log alongside the road in front of Raef’s home, kicking at the dirt.
“You wanna come over to my house?” asked Chaz.
“Sure!” said Raef. He had never been inside a Warrior’s home, “I will tell Mother.”
They walked down the dirt road and turned south at the first corner. This was the Warriors sector, a part of the village Raef had never been to. The buildings were similar, clay covered sticks over a timber frame and a thatched roof, but many were longer than homes in Raef’s sector. Chaz turned off the path at one very long house and Raef followed him inside.
Raef entered a room with a fire in the center and a long table, but he did not see any beds or privacy curtains. Instead, there were doorways hung with curtains on two walls. A man was sitting on a bench at the table, unwrapping the lacing of his calf-high boots. Raef knew it was Rodon, Chaz’s father. Rodon was shorter than Folor, but was all covered in muscle. His face was lined and worn and had a faint scar on one cheek.
“This is my friend, Raef,” said Chaz to his father.
“Ho, young Raef!” said Rodon rather loudly.
Raef giggled. Adults did not normally speak this way.
“Ho…I mean pleasant sunrise, sir,” said Raef.
Rodon smiled slightly, then removed his boots.
“My father is the Prime Warrior, the leader of all the Warriors!” Chaz said.
Rodon got up and wrapped an arm around Chaz’s head and rubbed his hair briskly with his fist.
“Maybe I’m just the leader of fools,” Rodon said, “Raef’s father isn’t likely to get killed at work. I am not so sure he isn’t the wiser one.”
“No one could kill you!” said Chaz.
Rodon smiled and turned away to work on an arrow of some kind.
Raef followed Chaz through one of the doorways. On the other side of a curtain was a smaller room with a straw bed on the floor.
“This is where I sleep,” said Chaz.
Raef was immediately taken in by what he saw. Wooden swords hung crossed on the wall along with small spears and arrows with real stone tips. Collections of arrowheads lined little shelves and nets hung from the ceiling. Raef had never been that interested in weapons but he couldn’t help but admire the room.
“My mother would never let me have all this stuff,” said Raef.
“All Warriors have weapons,” said Chaz.
“Even the younglings?”
“Of course.”
Raef wished he could be like Chaz. On an impulse he could not explain, Raef untied the small bag at his side and took out his clear stone.
“Here,” said Raef, handing his treasured stone to Chaz.
“What?”
“You can have it,”
Chaz looked surprised. He looked at the stone, then at Raef.
“Why are you giving it to me? It’s your favorite.”
Raef wasn’t sure. “I just want you to have it.”
“Wow,” said Chaz, gently picking the stone from Raef’s hand, “Thanks.”
But the friendship did not continue for long. Only a few sun’s journeys later Keever and Liet found them when Chaz and Raef were playing ball after last meal. Chaz was happy to see them and invited them to play. It was Raef’s ball, and he was not sure he wanted to share it with those two.
“This is dull,” said Keever, “I know a better place we can go!”
Before anyone could respond Keever was off and running. Liet and Chaz followed immediately. Raef wasn’t sure he wanted follow, but he did. As he ran to catch up he wondered if he would be punished for not telling his father where he was going. It was getting late, after all. Keever led them to the space behind a small hut near the Training Lodge. Raef didn’t know whose home it was, but he knew it wasn’t any of theirs.
“Look,” said Keever, “there’s an apple tree with rotten apples on the ground. We can have an apple war!”
The others laughed and began to pick old apples off the ground.
“Wait, whose hut is this?” asked Raef, “are you sure we can play here?”
“They won’t care,” Keever said.
“But, how do you know?” asked Raef.
Chaz tossed an apple at Liet. It hit him on the side and sprayed mush everywhere. Liet laughed loudly and tossed one back at Chaz.
“Are you sure we can be here?” asked Raef.
“Stop crying,” said Liet, tossing an apple at Raef, but missing.
“I am not crying!”
The three Warrior sons began throwing apples at each other one after another. Raef finally picked up an apple. One side was pretty soft, but the other was still hard. He turned his head sharply as he heard an apple hit someone with a sharp smack. Chaz flinched, a hand going to his side where he had been hit, but he smiled and threw one back at Liet. Raef stepped back a little; it looked like that one had hurt. When Chaz came near Raef threw his apple lightly at him. Chaz dodged it easily. Liet turned to Raef, and threw one right at him. Raef turned away but felt a sharp pain as a hard apple hit him square in the back.
“Ow!” said Raef, “that one wasn’t rotten!”
“They are all rotten, you snork,” said Keever.
Raef threw another one at Chaz, but he missed again.
“You can’t throw at all!” laughed Liet.
Suddenly both Liet and Keever started pelting Raef with apples. Many of them were still hard and stung badly.
“Stop it!” said Raef.
“Stop what?” said Liet, “this is a war, dragon-breath.”
“Come on, Raef,” said Chaz, “we’re just having fun.”
But Raef didn’t think it was fun at all. The others didn’t seem to ever get hurt, but Raef did. In anger he picked up three apples and began throwing them at Keever. They all missed. While he was attacking Keever, Raef felt a hard smack on the side of his head that made his ear ring. His cheek throbbed in pain. But he didn’t cry this time. He was mad, especially at Chaz who was
supposed to be his friend. Raef dropped his last apple and turned and walked away. None of the others came after him. No one even said anything to him as he left, not even to call him names. Not even Chaz. Raef walked home in silence and went immediately to his bed. His sister was already in bed and his father was just closing the privacy curtain to his parents’ bed. No one even said “good night.” Raef lay on his bed without even bothering to change into his night robe. That’s when he finally let himself cry. It was a very bad sun’s journey, a path Raef did not want to retrace.