Kolost opened his eyes and instantly panicked, he was suffocating. Gasping for air didn’t help as his wheezing was incredibly shallow, he turned to be resting on his side but ended up face down on what he assumed was a bed. While not ideal it was better than laying on his back, he took several deep breaths to try and calm himself and this time his lungs burned. The pain wasn’t terrible but he still found himself wailing despite his attempts not to.

He couldn’t make out his surroundings apart from a block of light in front of him, a window or an open door most likely. Trying to move towards it was a complete failure, his very short arms moved a little, but his legs refused to even budge. Kolost was confused at situation, right up until someone came into the room said something to Kolost he didn’t understand and proceeded to pick him up. He had his epiphany and realised the cruel truth about his situation.

He was a baby.

A bona fide infant.

He felt safe in this woman’s embrace, his involuntary crying ebbing while the nurse rocked him back and forth in her arms. Then Kolost felt a deep sadness at his situation, never in his life had he been cuddled like this. He remembered the cold walls of the orphanage, the little comfort it offered was often fought over between the children. But he liked living there as he met starving children in the slums of Tialha almost every day, they looked more monster than human. Anything was better than living in the slums.

He wanted to ask Siddil where or who he was, but he didn’t even know what this “union” entailed. He was alive and thinking but Siddil hasn’t appeared. He has only been alive for a few minutes, but absence of the mage worried him. He wanted to ask about the man moulding the land like clay, the strange god they worshipped and what they did to anger the gods. That gaping hole had divine intervention written all over it. For now, Kolost had no way to answer his questions, so he enjoyed the warmth and drifted to sleep.

===============================================================================================

Kolost awoke and didn’t try to move as his last attempts ended in a shameful failure, he would have to learn to walk before beginning his quest. He turned his head around to look around and found himself in a different room than last time. Still stone with little furniture other than his bed and a wardrobe, why does a baby have its own room? If his parents were rich enough to do this than his life was off to a very smooth start. Kolost imagined grand mansions and clean halls he could stroll through to pass time.

“Kolost what’s the last thing you remember?” a voice asked him

“What?” he said out loud

“Keep in down, will you? And don’t speak, think idiot.”

“Siddil where have you been? I got pretty scared when I woke up and you weren’t responding.” He responded

“I’m serious Kolost stop speaking, you’re speaking in Eroan! If the parents hear you speaking a foreign language, they’ll know he’s possessed.”

“What?” this time Kolost thought to himself. Pain creeping behind his eyes.

“Fast learner, very good. We are near a place called Harack, no idea where that is. What I do know from peeking at your memories is that it’s definitely west of the mountains.”

“This young man’s name is Shaw Redwood, 4th son of the family. The eldest is called Sandon, the others Mather and Reinwald. From what I gathered the family is minor nobility and are concerned about young Shaw’s development.”

Kolost sat up and realised he had grown, several years’ worth in a single night. His headache getting worse by the second he questioned Siddil.

“How do you know all this, what is going on Siddil, how long have I been asleep?”

“Shaw is around 4/5 I can’t really tell, you Kolost have been awake several times and in control of the body, but you’ve never responded to me. I can’t be in control at all so Shaw was filling in the gaps, and so has his family. They have a small suspicion a ghost or dybbuk is involved with the kid. The temples haven’t become involved but don’t think we are safe.”

Kolost was now massaging his closed eyes to attempt at reliving the pain. He was also shocked by Siddils ferocity while catching him up. He didn’t like being compared for a ghost, but they were invading a body so what was he supposed to feel?

“Alright stop. Am I in control for good? What happened to Shaw?”

“You -no we are Shaw; it was a mistake choosing a child so young, but I had no other choice. The young body or soul specifically didn’t handle an invasion too well, so I had to let Shaw run things until you awoke or risk complete failure. By the time you did his ego was too developed and it took me until now to break it.”

“You what? You drove a child insane from inside his own mind?” Kolost felt disgusted at the price he paid to be here. But the feeling didnt last long, his headache started to calm down and this meant he was alive. Feeling and seeing things, he almost welcomed the pain after what he went through.

“Oh don’t act like you didn’t know this was a possibility, and by the way we can feel or see each other’s feelings and memories. That’s how I can speak to you I Eroan. ”

“How much do you know? You can’t learn a language from just a few sentences.” This time he felt Siddil’s attitude calm before he answered.

“Mostly your childhood and time as a slave, I had more pressing matters than casually reading your memories. Your early years were much rougher than mine, it makes me wonder how you ever met the gods, and then for them to just cast you out. But we have more pressing matters on hand”

Kolost felt he was telling the truth with no pity mixed in. The one thing he never wanted was pity.

“You don’t speak Hanothi, and your family suspects foul play. So were going to play mute until you can speak it fluently. Until then I’m going to tell you to nod or shake your head. This new identity is going to need some getting used to so keep calm and remember I’m also here. Always.”

“So what’s the plan for today you voyeur?” Kolost could feel the disdain.

“You-Shaw have been sick with delirium and bedridden the last few days, we stay sick for a few days while I teach you rudimentary Hanothi, then go meet the family. Act timid and lost until you can speak properly.”

“Can I ask a few questions after we conclude our lesson?”

“We’ll have time in the world for soul searching later, after all we have all the time in the world. Now try meditating to block out the outside, it’ll help you focus on me.”

So Kolost leaned back, closed his eyes and focused.