CHAPTER FIVE

A road. Two lines through the grass, spaced evenly apart for a great distance. Davram walked down the road. The only sound was the wind against the tall grass. Clouds loomed to the east. Davram walked throughout the day. At night he camped and stared at the stars, wondering of his uncertain future.

In the morning he sang the sun's song and continued walking. Midday came and went and there was only the empty road. In the afternoon, he came to a stop when he heard a sound. It came from further down the road. A woman weeping.

He stood there for a moment, then started towards the sound of the woman. Over the hill he walked and saw her.

Long red hair billowed in the wind. Tears streamed down her face. She lay in the grass beside the road and took no notice of him.

"Why do you weep?" Davram asked her.

The woman ignored him and continued weeping. He did not know what to do so he kept on walking. At some point he came across a man. The man was face down in the grass, blood all around.

Davram turned the man over. His eyes and mouth were open, staring up at the sky. Davram looked up at where the dead man was staring but saw only gray clouds. He looked back down at the dead man. There were holes in the man's chest.

"Ivishinai."

The wind blew.

"Who is this."

A man's voice from down the road. Davram saw two men walking towards him. The man in front had a sword out leaning against his shoulder, glittering in blood. He had a burn across the side of his face. The man behind had a leaf in his mouth, the end of which he had sharpened and used it now as a toothpick. They walked up to Davram.

"Who are you?" the burnt man asked.

"I am Davram."

The man just stared at him.

"This man is dead, like Somei."

The burnt man looked at the dead man, then back at Davram.

"Yes, he is. What are you holding there?"

"This is Somei's book. Can you read it?"

Davram spread the book open. The toothpick man laughed.

"He can't read."

"Nor can you."

"None of us can read then. Especially him."

The toothpick man pointed his leaf at the dead man and laughed again.

"That's why books are pricey," the burnt man said, "It's only the rich who can read. They write their secrets in books. Give it over."

Davram thought about this.

"I must keep this book. I have promised Somei that I will read it some day. If I give it to you, I will not fulfill the promise."

"Give it over or I'll slice you through."

A long silence. Then Davram ran into the grass beside the road. The two men followed, but they were slower than Davram.

He ran and ran, then he turned and ran some more. He looked behind him and did not see the men. He stopped and sat below the grass so they would not see him.

Davram waited.

Soon, he heard the men's footsteps crunching the grass.

"I can't run like that. Not anymore," the toothpick man said.

"You lazy shit."

"I'm not lazy. You're the lazy one."

"I sliced that other one, didn't I?"

"I had to shit."

"Exactly."

Davram was as still as he could be. A tiny round creature crawled from a blade of grass and onto his finger. It was red with black spots and he stared at it with horror. He did not know if the creature would kill him or not. As he stared at it, he began to hear something in the distance.

He had never heard this sound. It was not a voice. An animal maybe, like a bird. Or a person. It was a beautiful high toned sound, dancing through a joyous and playful melody. It was intricate and precious.

Davram stood and ran. The ladybird fluttered away. He ran and the two men shouted and followed. The music grew closer, until he was at a riverbed.

A man sat on a log, a long tube in his mouth and fingers moving. He was playing the music. He stopped when he saw Davram, and smiled.

"You run fast," he said with a laugh.

"Two men come to kill me."

"Why do they want to kill you?"

"They want my book, and I cannot give it to them."

"That's not a thing to kill someone over. Let me talk to them. Maybe I can change their minds."

The smiley man lay the flute against the log and walked out as the two men approached.

"Are you trying to kill him for that book?" the smiley man asked.

"I'll kill you too."

"I've done nothing."

"You have things I want."

"There's no need to kill me. I might give them to you if you asked."

"Will you give them to me?"

"No."

The smiley man lunged at the burnt man, both of them toppling to the ground. He wrestled the sword away and stabbed the burnt man in the neck. He stabbed again in the chest just to be sure. He was out of breath and looked up at the other man. The toothpick leaf fluttered down to the ground. The toothpick man pulled out a long dagger and charged, but the smiley man's sword was longer, his arms stretching out and the sword pierced the other man's belly.

He took the dagger away easily, leaving the sword where it was sheathed in the gut, and cut the bandit's throat. Blood poured down with a desperate gurgle and a thud. The smiley man went through their belongings, taking little things, but seemed disappointed in the end.

"They were not good at bandit-ing, it seems."

"They killed a man by the road," Davram said, "There was a woman weeping."

"Take me there."

Davram showed him the dead man. The woman had disappeared. Davram stared at the indent in the grass where she had been.

"We'll bury him," the man said.

Together they buried the dead man, then the two bandits.

"I'm called Slim Rowon," the man said as they walked back.

"Why are you called that?"

"I am slim, as you can see. And my name is Rowon."

"I am Davram. I come from the valley beyond those mountains."

Davram pointed to the high peaks decked with snow.

"Davram. You've travelled far. Come have a drink and tell me your story."

Slim Rowon invited Davram into his small tent, which fit the two just fine. He offered Davram a giant mug of beer. Davram sipped and began his story as Slim Rowon listened. He explained how Somei had created him from soil and water and other things.

"You are Farah."

"I am Davram."

"Yes. That is your name. I talk about your people. The people of the earth. Created only by the gardeners. They are together called Farah. So you are also Farah. I have never met a Farah. It is very rare to find one."

"I have never met a Slim Rowon."

Slim Rowon laughed and nodded his head, smashing the beer mugs and gulping down the cool ale.

"We shall be friends. Davram and Slim Rowon."

"You are my first friend."

"I have only been a first friend to two other people, and they are like brothers to me, though they are far from here, I think of them often and miss their company. You shall be like a brother to me, and I to you. Tell me more of your story."

Davram told of how Somei had taught him the Song of the Sun and sang it. Slim Rowon listened with fascination.

"You are a singer."

"Yes. Somei made me so. He taught me the song."

Slim Rowon played the song back perfectly on his flute. His eyes opened after he had played.

"Wonderful. I never knew the sun like this. It is the giver of all life."

He stared at Davram with wonder.

"I have never met a singer. What a day this has become. Killing two men and burying three, then meeting a singer who is a Faram. My head is dizzy with excitement. I am also an artist."

"What is an artist?"

"You don't know? Yet you sing."

"I do not know."

"Then I will you tell you all I know."

Davram listened.

"Naar sang to Vitu, and the world was born."