Chapter 10: Raven and Eono
Dave’s first week passed without further incident. Roun took Dave around the village where he got to know more about his relatives, who lived where, what they did, and how exactly they were related. The back and forth to different areas soon made him an expert of the Tiuruh’s Family area so that he could navigate without Roun’s help. He even met one of his Grand-relatives who was going to hand make his very own traditional outfit. Going to the fire pit every night, he met more of his cousins. No one bore him ill for his misstep the first night and he made very sure not to make another.
At the randomest times, Roun would disappear. To where, Dave never got it out of him, but the others, Dae and Kon mostly, always said with disinterest he was probably roped into helping with some festival matter. Summertime was full of festival preparations apparently. Or, a more popular opinion was he avoided work by finding somewhere to hide and sleep.
Of the young girl with the mask he saw nothing.
Her knack of avoiding eyes was even more masterful than Roun’s. Dave wondered if she was sensitive to the way people looked at her. No one had told him what happened to her face, but considering her reaction to “six years ago”... responsibility fell on the war.
Taboo. The strongest taboo Dave felt was asking directly about “six years ago”. Feelings surrounding that particular time lingered strongly throughout the village. Nobody spoke about it. Not a mention, a peep, or offhand memory. It confused him. The purpose of this festival and training was to train them for war, wasn’t it? Then why would no one explain to him the origins behind it? Was he supposed to fight without an enemy in mind? He might as well be preparing to wield a blade against a dream.
As much as he wanted to know, he was afraid to ask. And so another week came...
Early morning brought yet another change to the village. A mystical green veil of light emerged with the sun and its rays created strange fractals in the air that faded in and out depending where it fell. Fresh scents graced the noses of the boys as they sprinted away through the forest, in a rush to get to practice. It lacked the warmth of the afternoon sun, full of the morning dew, but it energized them. This raw light remained over the village like a drowsy spell and kept the creatures silent except for those birds impervious to time. Whistles and trills sounded in the trees with the wind in their ears.
"We're gonna be late!" Roun sped over dirt paths in panicked haste.
“Who woke up late again?” Dave panted as his feet stumbled on the forest path. "And who told my dad we would work hard and be on time no matter what?"
"Iz why I asked you to wake me up," Roun returned sans guilt. He moved with familiar ease through the leafy greenery. “The first practice I bring you to and this happens…”
"And who wouldn't get up for a whole half hour? He's going to be mad we left late."
"He'd be mad if we skipped out one-hundred percent and even if we didn't tell him, Raven would, 'cause Raven has no qualms about poking old wounds and slitting open new ones."
"And who was fussing over their hair like a teenage girl?" Dave kept listing on. "And forgot where they put their sword? Why would you go to sleep with it anyway?"
"Alright, man, I get it." The remark ruffled Roun slightly. "It's my bad. I'll make it up to you later - assuming we make it through the practice."
"What exactly are we going to be doing?"
An unexpected but timely electric tone momentarily disturbed the charm of nature from Roun’s pocket, from which he pulled out a cell phone.
“It’s Dae,” Roun said, glanced at the message without losing speed. “She’s asking where we are. Everyone else is already there - Oh great."
"Are we being minced?" Dave asked, looking worried.
“We're doing a survival exercise. Raven loves survival."
Dave gulped. "What's involved in a survival exercise?"
"Oh, you know, the usual you see in movies."
"But what -"
"And there's penalty involved." Roun added. "Raven always includes a penalty."
“Penalty? What kind of penalty?”
“Depends on what her mood will be when we get there – either way it won’t be nice.” Roun spoke with nervous energy. “They’re never nice. Imagine you have the power to deal out judgement, whatever judgement you want, and you know no one will object because you can just beat them down. I swear all Wardens have a sadistic alternate personality…”
"Roun? I've having second thoughts. I don't know if I feel like going..."
"What do you mean 'don't know'?" Roun exclaimed without stopping.
Dave responded reluctantly. "Can't we do training on our own like we did before? I'm still new here and I'm still getting used to things..."
"Don’t go getting cold feet on me now! Besides, no one’s going to call you out. They'll be too focused on practice to mind you."
"I mean, I would feel better if I were more acquainted with what I'm expected to do -"
He had no time left to say anything because Roun suddenly crouched down in the thick bushes, signalling to be silent. He squinted ahead and whispered, “Oh no, they’ve already started.”
“Started? I don’t hear anything,” Dave whispered back, glad for the rest, the run leaving him winded. Except for the rustling of leaves from a slight breeze, no other noises reached his ears. If everyone was already here, they were being extremely quiet and invisible.
His cousin turned to him, a strange conflicted look on his face, as if he were an officer giving his final orders to his last marine. “Listen, Dave, this might really suck for you as your first practice cause I should have explained it to you beforehand, but are you able to fend for yourself?”
Dave tilted his head sideways. “Yeah, sure.” Considering the amount of unspoken details there wasn't much else to do and push for time.
“Then once I finish talking, make yourself as scarce as possible. If you hear any indication of someone heading your way, hide immediately and don’t get caught. That’s all you have to do.”
“But what are we doing?”
“The scariest version of hide and seek you’ll ever play.” Roun laid a hand on Dave’s shoulder and whispered tensely. “Now hide!”
“But – where?” Dave asked. But Roun had literally vanished in the bushes without a sound or sayounara. A sweat drop trailed down the side of Dave's face. Left alone, the boy could only follow the instructions given to him.
Various trees and plant life surrounded him on all sides. They'd departed from the road to an area that looked isolated from the village. Was he supposed to hide here somewhere? Standing, he could see somewhat over the thick foliage and thought he saw a clearing a little farther away.
With a slow blink, he felt drawn to gaze at a tree trunk on his left, then upwards into the tree tops at a particular branch above him, and finally his eyes settled on a cluster of plants thick enough to hide a person. According to his vision, no one else was around. Yet…his pricked senses told him otherwise. All around him, his instinct told him the other children were hiding, invisible to his sight. And he was supposed to do the same.
“What am I hiding from though?” he wondered.
His question was answered in the moment. Something in the distance moved into view so gradually like a ghost. The stark blackness of it caught the eye amidst the woods. Dave froze, as shivers ran up his back at the something unknown. He'd never tried to hide in a forest before, moreover from an astral being. Actually, far as it was, he couldn’t tell what it was… until it turned to look directly at him. By then, it was too late. He had the barest glimpse of a large black bird head with painted red eyes before it turned into a black blur, cutting towards him like a blade.
“What is that...?" Dave puzzled obliviously. "Not another wild animal?"
“Dave, run! That's the Warden!” a voice to his left fairly shrieked at him, a boy's. Kon?
“Why didn’t you hide?” hissed someone on the right, their voice young and irate.
“Shut up! She’ll find us!” The third voice came from above, Dae's, he thought. All three transmitted from the spots Dave had thought someone was concealed.
"Warden? Did I get found already?” Riveted in place by sight of those red eyes, Dave fell in a dazed trance as the bird head swooped towards him.
In that five-second gap between him and the black spectre, a string of words incoherent to those in earshot burst from his lips. “I don’t know. No, but - I mean, it’s kind of hopeless now – talk about bad ideas – Look, I have no idea what I’m supposed to -” Spitting words out rapidly, Dave raised his voice to whoever was near. “Hey, am I allowed to fight back?”
“Yes – but don’t!” Roun’s voice, somewhere.
Dave staggered backwards, eyes getting wider the closer the bird, but even still he paused in that last second as if thinking, or perhaps listening to something.
"Run, idiot!"
“Okay, got it," he said, finally.
"Got what?" A dark and icy female voice like winter riding on the back of night asked him. The bird swooped in and a hand shot out like a bullet to grab him. Dave sprang away with rivalling quickness, surprise plain on his face.
"I thought -" Diving behind a tree to evade another hand, the youth realized the "bird" possessed the body of a human beneath it - or rather a human body carried a grand headdress on its shoulders in the semblance of a raven's head. "I thought this was hide and seek, not tag," he gasped tightly as the person zipped after him. Panic spurred Dave, and he escaped being caught on pure reflex. Trees on the terrain helped to keep a narrow distance away from the pursuer, but no matter where he moved she bit close to his heels.
"Scariest version of hide and seek? More like tag with the final boss!" Dave scampered back and forth between trees, the bird's form a shadow in his periphery.
Unaware of where he was going, Dave broke out of the forest straight into a clearing.
"Cret!" She'd driven him into the open with no coverage. He braked, feet slipping, and spun back around, intending to run back into the shelter of the trees only to be met with a pair of red eyes swooping towards him. He reacted by leaping sideways behind a large trunk on the border of the clearing and the eyes disappeared out of view for a second.
The black shadow tore apart the bushes on the other side of the tree. Dave yelped, frozen in spot as the bird jumped into the air and flipped over him. Drawing a short sword, the dark figure in the headdress barely touched ground before rushing at him. Dave backed straight into the tree and in a blink found the bare silver blade pressed against his neck.
"Got you." The person under the bird mask grabbed Dave by the head and held him against the trunk with no gentle hand.
Dave gritted his teeth, staying as still as possible. Her grip held him solidly. It was all but he could do to keep the cold blade from slitting him. For a moment, her attention drifted away from him. She clicked her tongue and barked out at the forest, “I thought I heard a certain evasive mole…”
At a closer look, the large headdress consisted of the top half of a bird’s head and beak that fell over half her face, hiding her eyes and exposing a sullen scowl. Black feathers cascaded down the back their silk shine blending in with her strands of hair. It added to her height though she must have stood as tall as Dave. Her outfit differed from the other Wardens, the long black strips hovering in the breeze in a ghostly manner, and her wide sleeves worn and tattered from years of use. “Raven” suited her to a Tee.
“This is pretty scary,” Dave gasped.
The red eyes looked down at him and the woman pulled a distasteful smile. She drew his face closer to the beak of her mask. “Scary? This isn’t scary. Scary is… Looking up at your enemy and realizing they see zero value in your life.”
“Yeah, I got that you weren’t going to kill me.”
“You think I can’t kill you because we’re family?” Icy mockery laced her dark tones.
"No. You won’t kill me because my dad would definitely kill you if you did – and much sooner than a Nanrot would.”
The Warden said curiously, “Oh? Who’s your father?”
“Jaanes Tiuruh. You must be Raven.”
“You must be the newcomer they’ve been talking about.”
“Are you still serious about using that knife?”
The woman paused lips tight. Sensing her hesitation, Dave chuckled. “Oh right, I almost forgot. If you do decide, mind my dad would arrest you first, and then kill you.”
Raven smiled slowly. “Why don’t we find out if he actually will?”
They fortunately never found out.
“And in comes the hero to save the people!” Right then, a man in black stepped out of the trees like a wood spirit and dislodged Raven’s hand from Dave’s head with an obnoxious slap to her wrist. Raven whipped her blade at the man who met it with a sword of his own. The clash of their weapons rang through the clearing.
Tension released its hold and Dave dropped onto his bottom at the base of the tree. He put a trembling hand to his neck, relieved to find it still intact while he kept a watchful stare on the adults.
“Eono, what are you doing?” Raven sounded displeased.
The man, self-proclaimed saviour, also wore the garb of a Warden. He shrugged in response with an unnaturally wide grin on his face. “I’m here to discover your training secrets,” Eono joked. “And to give my much-needed assistance.”
“We don’t need an Adsoku here.”
“Somebody didn’t get the memo.” Eono rolled his eyes. “I didn’t volunteer to come. Chief assigned me here. Something about ‘Make sure she doesn’t traumatize the kids’ and my, was he right.”
Raven broke the clash, attempting to take out his legs with her blade but Eono jumped into the air with surprising lightness and sprang backwards. When Raven started after him, something rolled at her feet. Light exploded in their faces. She was suddenly ten feet away, but nothing else happened. The light was only a miniature flash strobe Eono had thrown at the ground to activate.
Raven scowled. “They won’t understand if you’re soft on them – what are we training them for, sports?”
“What are you training them for, life after death?” Eono protested. “No need to murder them. If you’re trying to kill your kids, imagine how much worse the Nanrot are! Ooo!” He waved his hands about in an exaggerated manner.
“What is this, good cop, bad cop?” Dave wheezed. “The adults are like this too?”
“If I was going to kill him, I would’ve done so before you arrived,” Raven defended.
“Tut tut, Tiuruh.” The sinister smile never left the man’s face. “You shouldn’t draw your blade unless you mean to draw blood.”
A murderous glare seemed to emanate from the bird’s flat eyes. “I hope you won’t regret saying that. I may take you seriously.”
Eono sheathed his blade. “Deal. Why don’t we finish up this game and duke it out later?”
“I have nothing more to say to you,” Raven seethed. She turned to face the trees. “But I would like to punch a hole in your brain and empty it of all that merciful nonsense.”
Eono chuckled darkly. “Likewise.” He fetched his light and flashed the beam right into the dense trees. “I found you – and you – and you!” Left and right he shone the intense blue ray. Leaves rustled as those spotted frantically ran from their hiding spots. The Warden dove after them.
The two adults became dark blurs zipping in and out of the forest. Shrieks and yells sounded, followed by the kids returning to the clearing after being caught. It wasn’t long before a crowd assembled where Dave had seen none.
“I told you we should have spread out more.” Looking miffed, Kon entered the clearing.
“If you’d signalled us properly, we wouldn’t have been caught.” Dae came after him.
Dave felt relieved to see them. “So you were hiding together.”
“See? Even he could tell!”
Another figure slipped into the clearing behind the two and Dave stared. He recognized the little girl he’d glimpsed twice yesterday.
“Oh, you guys haven’t met each other yet, right?” Dae said without turning around. “This is my younger sister, Shira. Dave’s our cousin, Shira.”
The one eye not hidden by the wooden mask glanced.
“Hi,” said Dave.
Shira nodded silently. Her expression remained neutral; however, Dave couldn’t help feeling a gloom ooze from her small detached form. Talking to her now seemed untimely.
“I didn’t realize there were this many,” he observed, changing the subject. “I didn’t see anyone out there.”
“It’s ‘cuz the Wardens know where to look,” Dae grumbled. “They know the forest too well it might as well be cheating. Better if we did it somewhere else. They say the real trick is going where they won’t look. This area is overused.”
“And what’s the point of this ‘exercise’?”
“Survival.” Kon said quietly. “How well you can stay out of sight of the enemy, elude them, sneak by them. When you want to gain in the advantage in a fight, it helps to be where you can see your opponent, but they can’t see you.”
Dave hung his head, putting a hand on his neck.
The Wardens whisked back into the clearing, heads turning. Dave thought they were counting the heads to make sure they’d gotten everyone until Eono threw his hands up.
“You weren’t kidding when they said you needed backup.”
“You volunteered,” Raven returned coldly. “I don’t need your help.”
“Where is this guy?”
“Who are they looking for?” Dave whispered to Dae.
“Take a guess,” Dae said. “The guy who disappears when you need him the most.”
Who would that be? Dave scanned the crowd as well. Then he realized there was someone he wasn’t seeing. The Wardens conferred with each other again.
“Do they get something if they win?” Eono asked.
“No penalty.”
“What’s the penalty?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
About ten minutes later, the Wardens still hadn’t found their target. Raven hissed through her teeth while Eono scratched his head. The children conversed restlessly among themselves.
“Great practice. Someone understood the point,” Eono remarked. “Should we stop?”
“Betcha he ditched,” Dae said to Dave.
Raven growled, but nodded reluctantly. “Roun! Come out!”
Everyone fell silent, listening for a return call. Chirping birds filled the gap. Raven made to yell again, when the leaves finally rustled overhead. And the lanky teen climbed down from the tall trees just beside the clearing.
“I looked there!” Eono exclaimed.
“Sorry uncle,” Roun flashed a smirk as he landed. “Do I win?”
Raven grimaced. “Once again. Happy?”
“Yay.” Roun cheered lazily.
“This ends the exercise,” Raven called out to the rest. “Split up into pairs for sparring. Anyone found standing idle will be sent to the deep woods to pick spax-berries.” This sent a collective groan through the company followed by scurrying to find partners. The group spread out into the other clearings so that there was enough space all around.
“Were you up there the whole time?” Dave asked when his cousin reached them.
“Nope. Can’t tell you more than that.”
“Didn’t you leave?” Dae prodded.
“That would score me a penalty. You can’t make me do one-hundred push-ups.”
“Okay, then, what is your secret?” Dave asked.
“It’s not even a secret. It’s logic,” Roun insisted.
“Unlock the treasure box,” Dae pressured. “Master of hiding.”
Roun rolled his eyes. “You were on the right track earlier: hide where they won’t look. But your idea implies staying in one location. What you should be doing is… think of where they will look and constantly move within their blind spot.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds simple,” Dave said.
“It’s not that easy,” Dae retorted.
“It’s not?”
“You didn’t even get a chance to hide,” Roun pointed out.
“Listen to him.” Raven was suddenly standing beside them. “Because that’s the only thing he’s good at doing – running away.” She and Roun locked eyes. From the stabbing tones of her voice it didn’t sound like she was joking. “Get practicing. Roun, you’re with me.”
“What?!”
“Dae, Kon…” The bird’s eyes flicked from them to Dave. “Do something about this one. See what he can do, because he doesn’t look like much. You…” Suddenly, she looked at Shira. The girl looked down. “What are you doing here?” Shira made no reply. Raven snapped, “If you don’t intend to do anything, why don’t you get a head start ahead of the others into the forest?”
Dae’s eyes widened even as she bristled, her tones taut as she tried to restrain the fury in her voice. “Warden Raven, can’t you make an exception?”
“No, I won’t. Why should I?” Raven replied icily.
“Because I am Shira’s sparring partner and you can’t say no to that.” Right on cue, Eono popped up like he’d always been there. He placed his hands on his hips with a smile that clearly challenged the woman.
Raven growled. “Will you never quit your monkeying?”
“Will you never stop asking obvious questions?”
“If we were on the battlefield, Eono, you wouldn’t be able to help everyone that was being attacked. Your corpse would be skewered between your enemy and your best friend – useless sacrifice. Or were you planning to be a hero? Because heroes die.”
“There you go again with the extremist attitude. No one’s going to die. Much less Shira.” Eono gently directed the girl to the side of the clearing, away from Raven. “I mean, they’re not going to fight anyone when they’re not even Wardens yet.”
Topic: Charred Life (Rewritten) (Read 18741 times)
