Chapter 5 Amal Village

“In those days, I believed life was over for me. But I had no idea of the things I had yet to see and experience.”

-Journal of the High Magus

Amal Village, Forest of Despair

Vebrumma

The children gave us quite a scare when they came yelling, ‘The Pure are invading!’ Even more so when Kaya and Yamka weren’t among them.

Crushing several herbs together, I watched as Hania cleaned the young man’s wounds. She ran out in a panic in the middle of gardening, shovel in hand, when she thought her daughter was in danger. Thankfully Kaya was just fine, though a bit frightened.

“Heheh.” I chuckled at the memory of Yamka confronting the stranger. That girl is very protective of the little one. A little headstrong but her heart is in the right place.

The Pure lay prone on the bed with shallow breaths. He is in pretty bad shape. Dehydrated and full of cuts and bruises. It is a wonder how he survived considering the direction he came from. Though most of the injuries are minor, the puncture wound on his leg is rather gruesome. Another day and the infection would have killed him if the monsters did not get to him first. It was clever to use the scales to stop the bleeding but if they came from what I think they did, he basically poisoned himself in doing so.

I looked at the curious pile of items he had on him. I don’t know what that black tile is but the horn, scales, and fang definitely belong to a Cerastes. Quite the interesting fellow.

“Hania, can you harvest a few more Echinacea leaves from the garden?”

“Yes Wakan.” Hania has been quiet after the incident. Widowed after our attempt to pass through this Forest of Despair, she must have been shaken with the thought of losing Kaya too.

After watching Hania walk out the door, I turned to the blonde catkin girl loitering in the sickroom. “Don’t you have work to do? Aira?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it Vebrumma! I’ll finish it later. It’s not everyday we see a new face here!” This rude rascal. All these years of getting scolded for not addressing the elders properly, and she still calls me by name. “Eheheh~”

Sigh. “If you are going to be here, mind as well be helpful. Mash these together and keep your eyes on the fire.”

“Ehhh…”

“And you kids, this is not a sideshow! Go practice your mana training!”

“““Waahahaha!””” The group of children crowding the window scattered away screaming and laughing. The result of me being too lenient with them. Sigh.

Inspecting the man’s wound, I still see puss mixed with coagulated blood. This is going to take a while.

Calling forth my mana, I probed into his leg and found another surprise. The mana in this Pure is very dense. If he was not unconscious, I would have difficulty in pushing mine through. He must be an accomplished mage somewhere… at that age… We will have to post a couple more warriors to guard him just in case.

Pushing my mana into the leg, I examine the wound within. The muscles are severely torn and there is damage to the tendons. Fortunately for him, his bones seem to be fine. I should be able to fix this but before doing so, the infection needs to be addressed.

Hania returns with the herbs and sets them on the worktable. “Wakan, we’ve had too many injured this month. If we keep using them up, We won’t have any left to seed.”

“I know. We will go foraging for more in a few days. Come. Sit. The infection has tainted his bloodstream. We will have to purge it from his system as much as we can before working on the injury.”

Hania pulled up a chair next to me and sat silently, staring at the man. Sigh. I guess this opened up old wounds.

Placing a hand on her knee, I try to reassure her. “Hania. Everything is fine. Kaya is safe and the threat was just a weary traveler.”

Lowering her gaze, Hania forced a smile. “Yes. It just scared me, that’s all.”

“Alright. It is not everyday we get to practice on conditions like this so let us get through it first then you can go spend some time with Kaya.” Patting her thigh, I return us to the task.

“Thank you Wakan.”

“For starters, try examining him with your mana.” I instruct with a smile.

Hania placed a hand on the man’s leg and closed her eyes. With a gasp, she pulled her hand back, staring at the unconscious man.

I gave her a knowing nod. “He is a mage. A quite powerful one at that.”

“Wakan, what if he’s an enemy?” Hania asked with a worried look.

“If he is an enemy, we will end him. But until we find out for sure, we will do him no harm. Don’t worry. I will task some warriors to watch him. Aira! Are you done mashing the herbs?”

“Yees!”

“Bring it here with the hot water. And a bowl too.”

“Alrighty!”

Hania placed her hand on the man, ready to observe the flow of mana. Pouring the boiling water into a bowl, I mixed in the mashed herbs and whispered a prayer. “Great Spirit, guide our hands as we bring healing to this child.”

“I bind water to my will, infused with the gift of healing, flow within, purge the poison that seeks to harm…”

The water, bound to my mana, glowed a gentle yellow and spiraled up from the bowl, snaking its way into the man’s wound. I concentrate and will the water to spread throughout the leg, gathering poisons and cleansing the infection.

This method always burned through mana. The prolonged control over the tonic while willing it to gather something I only understood as ‘harmful’ made it rather taxing.

Spiraling out of the wound on the opposite side, I led the dark brown liquid into a separate container. With the remaining tonic, I pushed it through his mouth and into his stomach. This should help the body fight off the rest.

I took a deep breath before placing both hands on the man’s leg again. Pushing my mana into the fibers of his flesh, I felt for the torn ends of each strand of muscle “I bind flesh to my will. Knit and reform as you once were.”

The mana infused muscles shifted and reconnected little by little, restoring itself painfully slow. It took some time and I felt my mana nearly bottom out as blood vessels wiggled back into place. Hania had to take over in the end and I watched as the skin closed itself up, leaving soft pink scar tissue where the hole once was. His calf was whole once more and a soft orange glow slowly dimmed.

“Whew…” Even a full restoration like this isn’t perfect. There are things a mere reattaching of flesh doesn’t restore and requires the body to heal naturally but he should be fine now.

“That’s so cool. I never get tired of seeing that.” Aira said from behind me.

“The invitation to learn it yourself is still open. Why not join us in our next meditation?”

“Ah…haha… well, you know I’m busy helping my father with… a lot of things. I should probably get back to work.” Aira waved off the offer and quickly walked out of the sickroom.

“Haha, she’s never had the patience for cultivation.” Hania laughed.

“Of course not. Her father spoils her too much.” Sigh. Even as a grown woman, she acts like a child. “Call in the block heads standing outside and go see your daughter.”

“I’ll help clean up first.”

…

…

…

Night was falling by the time Hania and I were done, the two moons already shining brightly in the darkening sky. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night Wakan.”

Leaving two warriors to keep watch over the Pure, I headed to the large, single room building with a bag of the Pure’s belongings. The elders have likely already gathered for the meeting and seeing the empty square, most of the villagers as well.

“Vebrumma, you’ve come.” Dasan, my husband and chief looked up from the center fire, wrinkling his aged face with a smile.

The elders, sitting at the inner circle, stood in greeting as I entered, the crowd forming the outer circle followed suit, bowing their heads in unison.

“Yes, the treatment of the pure took some time.” I said, taking my place next to the chief.

Nodding, he opened the meeting with the main topic at hand. “As you all know, we had a visitor earlier today. From his looks, we can guess he is not Gathalian. I would like us all to put our fears aside for now but remain vigilant until we can confirm his origin.”

The elders began speaking their thoughts. “Did he not come from the north?”

“Probably another idiot getting lost and walking in circles. There is no way he could have come from Krestell or the Tribes.”

“There are some here who are worried of the threat this Pure may pose to us.”

“It is possible he is not alone.”

A murmur started in the outer circle.

Dasan took a puff from his pipe in thought. “Vebrumma, have you learned anything else about the man?”

I nodded with a smile. “Our visitor is a mage. Possibly even a Magus.”

The murmuring grew louder as the elders straightened in surprise.

“That’s not all. Some of you may have guessed already, but among the items he had on him were pieces from a Cerastes.” As I spoke, I pulled out the scales, fang and horn from my bag.

This brought on worried looks from the elders.

Holding his pipe in his mouth, Dasan inspected the horn. “This looks fresh. And based on the size, the Cerastes was likely over a century old.”

“A Magus of unknown origin, powerful enough to take on such a creature…”

“He may be a great threat to us. It might be better to…”

I shook my head. “We will do no such thing. He is unconscious and will likely remain so for a few days. His victory over the Cerastes did not come without a cost. The leg was stabbed through, probably with this very horn here, and became infected, poisoning his blood. That and severe dehydration greatly weakened his body. Right now, he is just a traveler in need.”

Dasan nodded. “We should not bring harm to this man without good reason. He has done no wrong to us.”

“Chief! Forgive me for speaking out of turn but he is a Pure! Have you forgotten what they have done to us?! What they are still doing?!” A wolfkin, his face half marred with scars, shouted from the outer circle.

“SHH! Mato! You-!”

“Don’t you shush me! That pure may be a Magus! Killed a hundred year old Cerastes! What will we do if he awakens and decides to attack?!”

Mato… He came stumbling into the village a month after our escape from Gathal. Losing a family can ruin a soul. Dasan just looked at him and sighed.

An elder motioned to remove the man from the meeting but that just made Mato angrier.

“Why do you wish to silence me?! Do you think I am the only one who thinks this?!” A few from the crowd silently nodded in agreement.

Another villager stepped forward. “Chief, Wakan, please understand. Even if he is not Gathalian, who is he to us? Must we live in fear with this Pure so close by?”

Dasan sighed. “Yes, we have suffered greatly from the hands of the Pure Gathalians. They have done great evils and still hunt us this day. Truly, they have forsaken the Great Spirit and chosen to become monsters.” Taking another puff from his pipe, the chief stared into the fire.

Understanding his thoughts, I continued. “But will you do the same? Will you follow in the footsteps of those who have forsaken the Great Spirit out of fear? To condemn a weary traveler for the actions of others?”

The villagers of the outer circle, calling for blood, dropped their gazes, but Mato remained with a look of defiance.

Sigh. The temper of wolfkin… “It is a great shame and dishonor to murder an innocent in their sleep. Far be it from us to commit such sins. It is better to die as children of the Great Spirit than to die a monster. And if we are killed for following the Spirit’s teachings, so be it. Let us die and reunite in Paradise.”

“Your Wakan is right,” looking up from the fire, Dasan matched Mato’s stare. “Let not your soul be tainted Mato. And everyone else here. We know your losses very well. But if you lose yourselves here, are you not separating with your families for eternity? The whisper of darkness is sweet and enticing… but the cost is your soul.”

Mato’s gaze fell with a look of anguish.

Dasan let out a deep sigh and spoke softly. “Listen. We were all created by the Great Spirit. It is not birth that makes a person evil, but the choices we make that determines our character.”

Mato looked away then walked out of the building. It’s about time we wrap up this matter. “We will watch over the traveler for now. If he turns out to be an enemy, we will take action then and only then. Elder Katan, have the lookouts remain extra vigilant and post guards to watch the visitor in rotation. Four people per shift.”

“Yes Wakan.”

…

…

…

Daniel

Slowly drifting back into consciousness, my eyes feel like they’ve been weighted down. “…uuugh…”

I barely get my eyes to focus when the face of a blonde, scruffy bearded man fills my vision. “Soomhata klo.”

Startled, I attempt to distance myself, tumbling off the narrow bed in a tangle with a blanket. Hitting the floor, I kick off the sheet and scurry back against a wall in a fluster. “What? Who?”

“Ehaha, gitaran. Oi! Otahla Wakan.”

Four people stood in leather armor and bunny ears. One of them grunts and leaves the room. Right… LARPers.

I calm down as I recall my recent ordeals. I made it. It’s going to be okay now. “Ha… Haha.”

Relief washes over me and I feel pressure in my nose as tears start to form.

I’m okay.

I cover my eyes for a moment and take a deep shuddering breath. No more gnawing thoughts of dying alone in the middle of nowhere. Lowering my hands, I notice it’s slightly green with bits of leaves stuck to it. It seems I’ve been plastered with something. I check the the rest of my body and find that I’m covered in a layer of this stuff… and naked.

My left leg was wrapped in leaves below the knee and aside from a slight pain and stiffness in my calf, it felt fine.

Did they just patch me up with a bunch of leaves and numbing agent? Worried at what I might find, I tore at the leaf wrappings and cleared away chunks of wet mulch.

What is this? There was nothing there. No hole. No cut. Just a vague outline of a scar. Oh my God. How long was I out?

Looking around, I’m in a room with several narrow beds like the one I fell off from. It smells heavily of earthy and herbal scents. It’s very authentic, if anything, and I might even be interested in checking this fantasy group out if not for my utter confusion at the moment.

I pull the fallen blanket over myself and ask one of the three bunny men staring at me, “Hey, can you tell me where I am?”

“Doh ohlen ahktahlisuh?”

“Shutalo.”

“Do any of you speak English?” The three men just stare as I exaggerate the enunciation. “Enngliish? Ame-er-ii-ca?”

The men silently stare, ears occasionally wriggling. Those are pretty well made.

I feel like at any moment one of them is going to say, ‘Siiike! Just messing with ya!’ But the silence stretched on only broken by the sound of one of them scratching their beard.

They all seem pretty fit. I can see muscle definition between the gaps in leather. With their long brown or blond hair and braided beards, they remind me of vikings. Well… vikings with bunny ears. Why are they wearing those anyway? It’s so out of place. That and the fur skirts were really distracting.

“Tou sovasuh?” An elderly lady dressed in a simple tan robe entered the room with a younger woman at her heel.

“Wakan.” The three men bowed their heads in greeting.

“Klo tahl e… shutalo ahktahli ahm.” One of the men says.

The old lady seems important. “Hello, uh… do you speak English?”

“Ohata.” She said to me. Patting her chest, she stated, what I’m guessing is her name, “Wakan Vebrumma.”

Doing the same, I give her mine. “Daniel.”

“Dan Niel.”

The rest of the conversation was a game of charades between different language speakers. It didn’t get very far. But I did learn this place was called Amal.

After giving me a fur skirt, Wakan sent me off with the viking bunnies for a brief tour of the village. But to my disappointment, I saw no sign of modern technology. No cars, no phones, or wires anywhere. Just houses of wood and stone separated by dirt paths. That reminds me. What happened to my stuff anyway? I should probably ask Wakan about that.

People in the middle of various tasks stared as I passed. Tanners, weavers, farmers… every single one wearing animal ears. This is too much dedication for a mere medieval fare or LARPing community. There weren’t even any roads leading outside the village. We were surrounded by trees on all sides with a few fields of crops and animals. This was rather worrying.

Walking past some plantations, a few children sat in meditation while a man in brown robes lectured in the distance. I stop to look at a blue turkey-sized chicken thing walking across my path. These things freely roamed the village, reminding me of home. Wonder how that chicken is doing.

I look at the four men with me and sigh. My attempt at drawing a map of the U.S. ended up with the viking bunnies drawing different animal shapes in the dirt. A slow-rising frustration started to bubble up since then.

“O-hh-meu?” One of the viking bunnies, Chumo, patted his stomach and made eating motions. Well, food is always good. No reason to worry on an empty stomach.

…

The sun was setting when I was lead back to the infirmary where a new set of guards replaced the ones I was with. I appreciated the hospitality but with the viking guards always watching me, it was starting to feel a bit weird. Am I a prisoner?

A pretty lady named Hania brought me a bowl of soup and small strips of meat. It was really bland but I gratefully scarfed it all down. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I took the first bite. But even as I ate, my head swam with so many questions. How long was I out for? How did I get fed? I was in a hospital right? Where am I? The more I thought, the more anxious I became.

I snap out of my thoughts as the table was cleared.

“Thank you.” I said, bowing my head. Hania looked to be in her late 20’s. Her silky blonde hair and bunny ears were pretty eye catching.

“Can I see your ears?” I ask, stretching a hand out.

“Ohlen?” Hania had a questioning look but seemed to understand my gesture. She glanced at the guards then lowered her head towards me.

I intended to pull off the ears but they were really soft and warm to the touch. It felt real. Too real. I tugged a little but seeing as they didn’t budge, I slid my fingers down to the base, eliciting a whimper from Hania. There should be a headband or clip around here but… nothing. It was all connected.

I absentmindedly started scratching at the base of the ear when Hania pulled away in a fluster. “Aht!”

“Aht.” She said sternly, pushing her palm out towards me. I was too confused to respond. The ears are real? The viking bunnies looked about ready to jump me.

“Daniel.” Wakan called from the entrance. She was with an old man with a maroon bandana around his forehead, holding up his white hair. “Tourei chaku.”

Hania bowed and left the room as the old man brought me a sack of items. My stuff. He introduced himself as Dasan and tried to talk to me but I just stood and went through the motions of greeting. My mind felt stuck. Something is very wrong here.

Wakan exchanged a few words with the guards before looking back at me with an amused smile. “Tsakana. Hahaha.”

She seemed to want another session of charades but seeing as I wasn’t very responsive, they all left shortly, leaving behind the guards.

I sat on the floor next to my bed, slowly pulling out the items one by one, thinking of the events I went through with each of them. “Ha. Hahaha.”

Everything is wrong. The snake, goblins, even the animals here. There’s something off about everything… even me.

I stare at my hands, conjuring up my chi, thinking of the stone room I saw with the light, wondering if that wasn’t a dream as well.

The viking bunnies mutter among themselves as I pull out the last item. My phone.

Powering up the device, I wait only to see the same ‘no signal’ icon. Of course. Why would it be any different? I also notice the battery is now at 67%. I must have been out for a while if the battery drained that much while it was powered down.

Standing, I head outside, the viking bunnies in tow, intending to walk around in hopes for a connection. A night stroll would probably be good right now. It should help clear my head at least.

The sun had long since set and it’s quiet outside, the silence only broken by the sound of insects chirping in the darkness. Though it isn’t as dark as it should be. Without a canopy of trees to block that mysterious light, the village is illuminated in a gentle blue.

Looking up, I stand frozen at the inconceivable objects in the night sky. I’m seeing things right? This is a hallucination. No. I might still be dreaming.

Where a single pale moon was supposed to be were two bright spheres, floating among the stars. They were both much bigger than the one I was familiar with. The largest one, a beautiful blue with scattered green and white. The other, at half the size, a dull red. Two moons.

“Ha. Hahahaha. AHAHAHAHAHAAA!”