by S. S. Segran
“It depends on your core ability.”
“Not sure what that means, but what honestly makes you believe we are the ones?” Kody asked.
“The prophecy states five younglings would rise from the flames of a fiery bird. Your aircraft, as it was struck by lightning, caught on fire and resembled our legendary fire bird, the Cerraco. You indeed arose from it. Also, the colors of each of your eyes match the shades stated in the prophecy’s first verse.”
Tegan shook her head. “I’m sorry, but that isn’t enough proof for me to want to stay and train with you. Coincidental occurrences, sure, but I just don’t see it as proof.”
Akol and Huyani were rapidly interpreting the conversation for the other Elders, who were beginning to look uneasy. Then Tayoka spoke up and Akol translated. “Elder Tayoka says that he understands how you might mistake us for crazed people living in the middle of a forest, raving about divinations. However, as we have revealed before, we are descendants of an advanced civilization. They were the ones who passed down their knowledge and helped us survive and grow as a people. This prophecy came from them and we have never once doubted their wisdom and ability to predict the future.”
“Quick question,” Aari said, to the chagrin of his friends. “How exactly would you know what our core abilities are?”
Nageau smiled. “We do not, but if you agree to stay—and not flee again—then we shall take you through an assessment, followed by the first stage of your training. Within three days, we will know if you are indeed the ones. By then, we would have identified the hidden faculties we must help you uncover.”
The friends looked at each other, unsure what to say. They were tempted to become as skilled as the villagers, especially after the way they had been rescued, but the thought was still outlandish.
Tikina said softly, “You need not give us an answer right away. Perhaps we will hear your response tomorrow after you have had a chance to speak with each other?”
Jag looked relieved. “Please and thank you.”
With warm looks, the Elders said goodbye and filed out of the neyra. Akol plunked down on the sofa after the Elders left and ran a hand through his short-cropped black hair.
“Akol?” Jag said. The youth looked up and motioned for him to continue. “What do you think about the whole thing?”
Akol stretched his long legs. “Could you specify?”
“The whole bit about the prophecy. And the training . . .” Jag absentmindedly pulled at a thread on his hoodie. “What’s your take on all of this?”
Akol crossed his arms and thought for a moment. “Let me begin by saying that the Elders mean well. They are not ones to deceive people, in case that happens to be on your mind. About their understanding of the prophecy . . . The Elders are incredibly wise, as were all the Elders before them. The prophecy is a serious matter for us because it is real. If they truly believe you could be the fulfillment, it would be prudent to heed their words. You will not be forced if you do not wish to be part of this, but . . .” Akol faltered. “. . . but it may cause a disturbance in the order of things.”
At the friends’ aghast expressions, he quickly hit the brakes. “I have said too much. And it is not your burden. In the end, though, the decision is yours to make.”
“So you don’t have a doubt about the validity of this prophecy?” Aari asked.
“None.”
“Therefore, you think we should do the training.”
Akol was slightly amused. “My opinion should be of no matter to you, my friends.”
“Yeah, sure, but we’ve kind of grown to trust your judgment.”
“I feel privileged that you think that way.” Akol focused on his feet as he chose his words carefully. “I think the training is beneficial groundwork for every human being. All of us here are taken through it before reaching adulthood. The training you will go through—if you indeed are the ones, which the Elders seem to believe—will follow the basics to enhance your skills. The Elders will then take it a step further; whatever that is, I am afraid I cannot tell you because I have no idea. But even if you are not the ones, you would have experienced some training, and that is valuable. So yes, I would say that it is best to go through with it.”
The friends let his words sink in, then Jag said, “We still have some time before we give the final decision. We can discuss this later.”
The group stayed with Huyani and Akol for a while more before bidding them goodbye and heading back to their own neyra.
25
“Blasted idiot!”
Hutar stabbed his knife into the wooden table. The other youths shared nervous looks. He rested his hands on the table on either side of the blade and leaned forward, his shoulders bunched up to his ears. “That pest. He ruined it. Him and his little band of aspiring warriors had to interfere.”
“I suppose in hindsight, we should have seen it coming,” a girl said, and flinched when Hutar whirled around to glare at her. If stares could kill, the girl would have been burnt to ashes.
“It was a fantastic plan,” Relsuc interrupted, vainly brushing back his mohawk. “It was incredible how you steered the wolves into the enclosure, Hutar.”
Hutar held up a hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers. “I know,” he muttered. “It was all going so well. The outsiders would have been taken care of if it were not for Akol and his friends.” He yanked the ten-inch knife out of the table. “Even when he does not realize what we are doing, he thwarts it. He is a thorn in our side. He needs to be rid of.”
“We can talk about Akol later, no?” Relsuc asked hesitantly.
Hutar took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Right.” He sat on a chair, arms crossed.
The youths were in a small, abandoned neyra on the north side of the valley. The shelter had been built many decades before and was never used. There were a few such structures scattered around the valley and no one ever gave them a second glance; it was a perfect place for Hutar and his group to meet and speak without disturbance.
“What did they talk about this time?” Aesròn asked, knowing that Hutar had eavesdropped on the Elders again. He held up his necklace with the predator’s incisor to his light green eyes, observing it in the dim light.
“They have proposed a crystal assessment prior to training the outsiders.”
A collection of moans and oaths flew. Hutar allowed the group to complain for a few moments, then raised his hand for silence. “Let us prepare ourselves should the outsiders agree to this proposal and pass the assessment.”
“We will make their life here miserable,” one boy growled.
“That goes without saying.”
“We need to scare them,” Matikè said. “Make them fear the training.”
“Yes,” Relsuc jumped in. “Feed them horrific stories of pain.”
“No, no.” Hutar rubbed the back of his neck. “If we were not short on time I might agree, but this is a pressing matter. A more radical method is what we need.”
“Like?” Aesròn asked impatiently. “We have already attempted to eradicate them with the wolves. The only way we could get more radical is if we get rid of them with our own hands.”
Hutar didn’t respond. He rested his head back against the chair, eyes closed, then asked, “Any ideas?”
One of the boys shrugged. “I could sneak into their shelters tonight and deal with them personally.” He pulled a knife akin to a switchblade out of his pocket and rubbed his thumb over the hilt.
Relsuc groaned. “Are you stupid? That would be too noticeable. The entire village would go berserk. Everyone would become a suspect.”
The boy with the knife went on the defensive. “Perhaps that is what we need—fear and suspicion to go with this strange sickness. It will work in our favor as the whole community would be suspect.”
“That is too much trouble.” Hutar opened his eyes. “Remember, all we want is to get rid of these five nuisances. We are not out to sabotage our entire village.” He paused. “
Speaking of this strange sickness, I want you all to avoid the waters outside the valley.”
“Is that where the illness is coming from?” Aesròn asked.
“The Elders and Magèo suspect so. I want you to stay clear of those waters, understood?”
The group nodded. In the silence that lapsed, Relsuc suggested that they break off and reconvene the next afternoon. He spoke softly, as though afraid that if he was his usual boisterous self, Hutar might lash out; he’d long since learned that Hutar was an unpredictable figure, making him all the more dangerous.
Hutar spoke not a word, his gaze cold. The group remained seated until two of the youths walked out of the neyra. The others followed, all of them tentative and wary. Soon, the shelter was empty, leaving Hutar alone to contemplate.
26
At the crack of dawn the next day, the Elders met by the river. The weather was chillier than usual but it didn’t bother them. As Saiyu, Tikina and Ashack spoke amongst themselves, Nageau asked Tayoka, “Have you had the men gather everything they need for the expedition?”
“Yes,” Tayoka said. “But we can always double-check when we meet with them.”
A couple of hours before dawn, Magèo had raced across the village to inform Nageau that he had spent the last day and a half devising a technique to verify if a water source was contaminated, just as the Elder had requested. The village scientist had not slept at all since he had last spoken with Nageau.
Now, the Elders headed to the temple. There they would meet the four men who had volunteered to follow the tainted rivers to their possible source, the Ayen Mountain Range.
As the Elders cleared the trees, the incline at the western end of the valley rose into view and the magnificent temple atop welcomed them. The volunteers were already there, and they bowed respectfully. The Elders each clasped hands with the men, and Nageau spoke. “Good morning, my friends.”
One of the four tall villagers, a man with black hair and mocha-colored skin, smiled in return. “Good morning, Elder Nageau.”
“Have you all got your necessities for the trip?”
“Yes. And we generally understand our task ahead, but we would appreciate it if we could have it explained further.”
“Most certainly. You will divide into pairs. One team will follow Mayet River, and the other will trace the river that is at the lower side of the valley, on the eastern end.”
“And we follow them toward the Ayen Range?”
“Yes, you will meet again where the rivers merge and continue together if the contaminant has not yet been found. It will be about a three-day trip each way, so we will be expecting you back in the village in six to seven days. Now, just to be clear on what you will be doing: As you trek beside the rivers, you will stop at timed intervals to test the water. You will know if the contaminant is there by filling a jar with water and dropping the crystalline gels that Magèo has created into it. If the gel turns a vibrant color, then you know the water is infected. If there is no color, then the contaminant is not present.
“You will repeat this process until the gels show that there is no contamination. That ought to indicate a general area where the contamination originates.”
“How are we to determine the intervals?” the man with black hair asked.
Nageau blinked. “Did Magèo not explain when you retrieved the devices from him?”
The men shook their heads and the Elders sighed. Ashack muttered, “Leave it to that boffin to exclude the important details.”
“He has many things on his mind, Ashack,” Tikina chided.
“In any case, you did retrieve all the gadgets you will need, did you not?” Nageau asked.
“We did,” one of the other trekkers replied. “We have all our food and water packed, and we will not be refilling them from any of the streams or lakes or rivers. We have the jars and the crystalline gels, and this object Magèo gave each of us . . .” He held up a small metal sphere.
Nageau took it. “Ah, this is exactly it. You asked how you would know when the intervals are. This is how. When this sphere vibrates, that signals the interval. It will vibrate for a few moments, then stop and pick up again at the next interval.”
The man, indicating that he understood, took the timing device back. “One more thing, Elder Nageau. What do we do if we find the source?”
“Return in haste and inform us.”
The man dipped his head.
Nageau gazed at the small group, all of them in their late thirties. He briefly made eye-contact with one of them and smiled a little; it was his daughter’s mate—Akol and Huyani’s father. “Before you get going: A messenger falcon will be flying with you, alternating between your two groups. We shall use the message beads attached to its talons to keep track of your position. Any final questions?”
The men looked at each other and showed that they were satisfied.
The Elders led them to the cauldron at the center of the foyer from which the jet of flame erupted, taking on the shape of a massive torch as it flared in brightly-colored hues. The Elders motioned for the men to stand in a semi-circle around the fire.
Once they were positioned, Nageau held his palms up on either side of the flames and brought them together until they met in the fire. Cupping his hands, he raised them out and turned back to the men; his skin was perfectly unharmed. On his palms sat a small blaze. He moved to the first man, who clapped his hands over the fire. When the villager opened his palms, the flame came to life. He passed it on in like manner to the next man, who did the same with the following villager. Once the fourth man held the flame, he closed his hands. When he opened them again, the fire was extinguished.
“Go now,” Nageau said. “And take our blessings with you.”
The trekkers straightened their fin-shaped backpacks. With a short nod to the Elders, they strode out of the temple and back into the village to head out in search of the source of the sickness that had befallen their people.
27
“We have decided to accept your offer.”
The Elders broke into large, jubilant smiles at Jag’s words. The friends had spent much of the previous night deliberating whether or not they should stay in Dema-Ki and train.
Tegan and Mariah had been skeptical, but eventually attributed their pessimism to homesickness. The more they spoke about it, the more the group realized that apart from being away from their families, there didn’t seem to be a real downside to taking up the Elders’ offer. But they’d skirted around the crux of the matter—the prophecy.
Now, sitting opposite the Elders in Huyani’s neyra, the friends formally locked in their response.
“Wonderful,” Tikina purred. “Then we shall begin.”
The friends were caught off guard. “What, now?” Kody asked.
“When did you suppose we would begin?”
“Uh, not now.”
“It is the start of a beautiful day. We did not want to tarry any longer if your answer was yes.”
“So . . . what do we do?” Aari asked.
The Elders motioned for the teenagers to follow them out of Huyani’s neyra. It was mid-morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky. The Elders led the group over a bridge to the other side of the village and up toward the temple. Akol and Huyani trailed behind them. As they mounted the slope, the friends gaped up at the magnificent structure.
“Come along, younglings,” Tikina said lightheartedly. “There is plenty of time for exploring later.”
The Elders walked at a brisk pace, obviously not wanting to waste any time. They came upon a stone wall, similar to the one the friends had encountered when they’d escaped the valley a few nights before. This wall, however, had a large wooden gate. It stretched a good twenty feet in width and its height extended up to fifteen feet.
With ease that the friends thought was impossible for men their age, Nageau and Ashack pulled the heavy gate open and walked through. Tikina and Saiyu ushered the friends in, then followed them inside. Ta
yoka, Akol and Huyani closed the gate behind them.
When the gate shut, the group stood by the entrance, dumbfounded. What they had mistaken for a full wall of stone was, in reality, the barrier of an immense enclosure. Groves of tall trees made it hard to discern the size, but it must have been at least two football fields wide.
Without looking at them, Nageau said, “The first thing we need to do is to carry out what we call a crystal assessment. The path to passing this assessment is through deliberate contemplation in a calm state.”
“As in meditation?” Aari asked.
“You could call it that. Now, in order for this to work properly, you must be clear of distractions—that means once we are done introducing you to your task, you will be separated and placed in different areas of the training ground.”
The Elders had the friends sit down on the grass and passed them each a transparent crystal the size of a thumb. “With this,” Nageau explained, “we will learn what we are supposed to teach each one of you. You must focus on naught else but the crystal. Clear your minds of any thoughts of this world, for they are now insignificant. If an image appears in the crystal, do not forget it. I cannot stress how important this is. When we come back at the end of the day to take you out of the grounds, you must describe exactly what you have seen.”
The friends cried out in dismay. An entire day?
The Elders chuckled, and Nageau told them that the reason was because focus was something many people needed to strengthen. “But when we say end of the day, rest assured, we do not mean when the sun sets. It should be of no matter to you, however, because you ought to be focusing on the crystal alone and attempting to gain absolute silence in your minds. Good luck, younglings.”
Once the instructions were given, the Elders led each individual of the group to separate areas in the training ground, then left them alone.
Kody had trouble concentrating on the crystal and attaining ‘absolute silence’. He found it boring. He knew his friends could endure monotony better than he, and the thought frustrated him.