It was not the ugliness of war that scared Jachum, neither was it the idea of death or pain. The thing that scared him the most was waking up one day and realizing everyone he had ever loved was already dead. To die seemed glorious, but to continue living seemed like a burden he struggled to handle.

Like any story worth its weight, my story began with life at birth. I was the only child of a strong Hunter who lived in the western tundra of the continent of Leuo. We lived alone and isolated from the outside world, with only each other for company. Well, each other and a sly little fox that enjoyed ruining my days. I began my conscious living in the dark wilds of the Dark Forest which bordered the beast lands and the empire of Ruden. It was a place often considered un-inhabitable by most sane people. But it was my home for most of my childhood. Oh, how I miss those day of unincumbered peace and hardship. Killing my first predator, learning to build a bow, and countless silly near-death experiences. It may have been different from what most children experience, but it was my home and I loved it almost as much as I loved the man your raised me. Little did I know how simple my life had been when I was a child learning the fine points of stalking….

“You must learn to be careful! While finding signs of prey and stalking it, always be aware of your surroundings. We are not the only predators here in this forest, and it is not anyone’s fault but yours if you are caught unaware.” The child swallowed hard and tried not to yawn, this was the worst part of his day. He was hungry and tired, but intensity with which his father focused in on him during these lessons kept him far more alert than any ordinary seven-year-old. He tried as hard as he could to maintain eye contact with his father during the lectures, but a stare that in past days made kings shrivel up into their thrones eventually made him glance down at the notes he was supposed to be taking. After what felt like hours and a long-drawn-out lecture of the dangerousness of certain bears that lived near the cabin they were currently sitting, his father set him free to wander the forest till dark. Of course, with the stipulation of bringing back some non-poisonous food as part of their dinner. Jachum raced into the massive forest in search of adventure and possibly some sweet wild berries that grew in the crisp spring air.

A couple of weeks ago was his 7th birthday, it was a birthday to remember for the boy. His father had sat him down the morning of said birthday and explained that they were celebrating his development into a full human.

“Once a child is born, he is not fully aware. All his actions seem controlled not by consciousness, but by an inward drive to seek understanding of the universe, whether it be nature, language, or emotion. Imagine your soul is not fully anchored to your body. Many a night my ancestors had children whose souls would escape and never return. At seven years old you have cross over the boundary from a jaanavar, to aatma; a beast with a spirit. Your soul my son has finally been anchored. Because this change occurs every aatma must be tested to find their name. This will be the first of three changes which occur during your life. Even I have only experienced two. But we’ll talk about that another time.” Said his Father.

“Tonight” spoke his father in a grave tone.” we’re gonna hold a ceremony to discover your name.”

Excited about the prospect of finally getting a name, the child went about his daily chores with nervous energy, checking traps, and weeding the garden. By the time his father asked him to help him cook dinner he was near to bursting with excitement. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he asked about the ceremony his father would promptly ignore him with a mischievous grin. This made him that much more excited, and he practically ran to set the table, eat dinner and wash the dishes.

After dinner was done and everything cleaned up, his father sat by the hearth inside their cabin and began smoking his pipe. His child sat to the left of him on the floor glaring at him with unblinking eyes, “Why does he always do this, can’t he just get on with it.” The child thought to himself, figuratively rolling his eyes at his dramatic father.

It took another 20 minutes before his father finished his pipe. Once done, the man stood up and walking over to the shelves where all his books were stored piced up a small wooden box. Returning to his seat he gestured the boy over and removed the lid. Inside lay eight bright purple mushrooms. The child couldn’t help but stare with fascination; they were so pretty.

“Listen well my son for I shall only say this once.” Said his father in a singsong chant. “This mushroom is a tool that will help connect us to the Land of the spirits, save your questions because I won’t answer any of them, it is better for you to experience everything with your own eyes than with my glasses.”

His father than took out a mushroom and handing it the the child gestured for him to eat it. The child popped the entire mushroom into his mouth and almost choked on the rancid thing. He eaten a lot of other mushrooms already over the years but this time it felt like as soon as the mushroom touch saliva it started to melt. It turned into a goo that tasted positively disgusting ad was difficult to swallow. He really wanted to spit out the horrid thing but seeing his father glaring at him, he knew he had better not.

“Now child close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you.”

He closed his eyes and listening heard the crackle of the fire and the slow beating of his heart. As the seconds passed, he really wanted to open his eyes to see if anything was happening but because of the severity of his father’s voice decided it might be best to keep his eyes closed. As the seconds passed the child like any other child his age began to feel really antsy, when he suddenly heard a quiet whisper that caught his attention.

It was a deep voide, but in a language he had never spoken and holding a quality he was unable to pinpoint like it was there and not all at the same time. The crackling of the fire seemed to fade, and even his heart which had acted as a drum beat just moments before hastened to quiet itself before the words being spoken. Soon, it became all he could hear; it encompassed his world. The voice suddenly changed, it had started out sounding peaceful but as time went on the voice turned from peace to war, speaking of untold violence and battles covered in shadow. As the voice reached its epilate, his father yelled in his mind, “Child open your fucking eyes.”

Startled, the voice disappeared, and he opened his eyes to see his father standing over him. Grabbing him under both his armpits the adult picked him up and place him standing on what seemed like a moss-covered earth. Grinning in his usual mad man way he said, “Welcome the land of spirits boy!”

Glancing around the child the saw a place far prettier than any land he had ever been, it was full of bright colors and confusing shapes that seemed otherworldly. He breathed and felt like he was tasting life itself, he felt like dancing across the planes singing a melody he didn’t know or understanding.

“Focus boy” His father’s voice brought him back to reality making him turn back around to face him. “child” he said smiling, “This is a very dangerous place it is important that before we start you understanding what you are about to do.” After receiving a nod from the boy he went on, ‘In order to discover your name, we must ask a spirit for guidance. “How do we do that?” the boy asked in a whisper?

“Watch” the man said with a laugh, “Wisahkeha, where are you, you piece of shit? I need a quick favor from you.”

“Dad who are you yelling at?” asked the child,

“Wait and see” he replied giving his child a gesture to stay silent. It was only a few moments after, when a fox appeared before the man seemingly out of nowhere.

“You will only have one favor left after this, are you sure you want to waste it on something easily done by any creature from this plane?” asked the fox in a seemingly innocent voice.

Sneering the man replied, “Did I not trick you into giving me those three favors, do you think I don’t understand the significance of the one who first names my son?”

“I had to try. “The fox replied, ”I was not as if I thought it would work. I just hate having any responsibility, let alone watching a child. Do you have any idea how much Absorka will laugh at me? It has been millennia since I last did something like this.

“Whatever.” Said the man, “Our deal was binding so it’s not as if you have a choice.”

“True, but the spirit of it can change so you had better treat me with the proper respect. Now, let me start thinking of name for the boy before we start.” Wisahkeha began walking around the boy looking at him from head to toe even going so far as to lick his hands. “ He doesn’t taste bad, how would you feel about Little Rock, or maybe little Omitaa?”

“I did not bring my son, to be named so stupidly. Do not act as if you do not know who he is.” The man thundered.

“Relax.” Replied the fox, “I shall keep my end of the bargain, and nothing has been set in stone, he is what he is, and he is what he’s not. Do not question the naming of a child who doesn’t have to courage to bring any input to his own naming ceremony.”

“I do have courage.” Piped up the seven-year-old.

“Oh really...” replied the fox laughing, “Lets see how much courage the child has shall we?” making a sly glance at the father.

The father to his credit showed no signs of nervousness, but seemingly acquiesced. Should one look into his mind however they would see a man starting to sweat for he never knew what sort of tricks the fox would pull.

“Come little boy, and look into my eyes let us see what you see, and see what you don’t” the fox spoke in a sing-song voice as he turned his gaze towards the nervous youth.

First with a glance then a closer look the little brat looked into the yellow eyes of the fox and was instantly entranced. It was as if the eyes were trying to show him something, if only he looked a little closer. As he searched deeper into the eyes, it was as if he was transported into another world. One where foreign men were stabbed and slashed, spirits whispering at their shoulders giving them courage and strength. Everywhere lay corpses of men dying and those not, screaming for it. The child began crying as he had never seen such violence, but he was unable to tear his eyes away for the scenes before him. Then as if by magic another image appeared showing a village in the middle of harvest. As he watched, he saw that while the clothes of these farmers were not rich they did not seem poor either and looked extremely content.

For a third time the scene changed showing a man in single combat with a bear, a staff in the hand of the former while, monstrous paws for the latter. It looked as if the man was going to fight off the bear when he slipped, and seeing the fight turn in its favor the bear with seemingly human intelligence swung a heavy paw and crushed the skull of the would be offended.

Darkness suddenly covered the eyes of the child and after being shaken gently found himself looking into the hard, intense, worried eyes of his father, who growling snarled, “I thought you wished to test the boys courage not scare him right after becoming aatma. I will use my last wish to curse your existence for a thousand years if any harm comes of this Wisahkeha, this I swear to even the great spirit.”

Sniffing distastefully the fox replied, “This is why I can’t deal with children their parents can’t handle even the slightest traumatic event from occurring to their child. Relax, I would not hurt a new aatma before he is even named, maybe if he was already but there is time for that after. He’ll forget in a couple of minutes everything about it. But I suppose his courage is not in question, the last child I showed this to went unconscious after the first vision, your child was fine even after the third if you had not rudely interrupted us.”

“Do not test me Wishkeha” The man growled back. And after making sure the little aatma was ok, spun around and said, “I forgot what a burden you our to be around, let us begin the ceremony before you injure my son permanently.”

“As you wish” said the fox with a yawn. And then jumping with speed and ability far beyond that capable of an average fox licked the forehead of the child, who sniffling was seeming able to recover after finding security in his father’s embrace. The fox after performing that strange action disappeared into nothingness.

“Father, why am I crying?” asked the child in a feeble voice.

“I’ll explain it when your older” said the father. And after a sigh that seemed to curse the heavens for his misfortune, began to explain the world of spirits while they waited for the fox to reappear