Rise of Qancin

Chapter 5: Morning

I wake up to find myself laying down with a thin blanket on top of me. To the right of me, the grandmother is smoking her pipe, and I see my wound properly dressed in bandages. The grandmother looks over at me and smiles. “Awake now?” I nod and struggle to sit up. “Rest…child. Your wound…serious.” I ignore her and eventually sit up. I softly respond, “I do not understand you very well. Where am I and what is your name?” She takes a puff on her pipe and ponders for a bit before responding, “You speak an old language my dear. My name is Alfie and you are in a farming village south-west of the capital. Where did you learn to speak this language?” Shocked at her response, I quietly say, “I learned this language from my mom. Why can I not understand everyone? This language was common throughout the land.”

She puffs again and says, “The language you know is called Dusekan, also known as the soul language of the land. Dusekan was founded by King Dusek the Third, which was over 300 years ago.” I sat there shocked and unable to say anything about what I learned. I remember my mom telling me about Dusek the Third becoming king and started a war against neighboring countries. What happened after that? Why can I not remember? Alfie puts her pipe down into a wooden bowl and asks, “Would you like some water dear?” I just nod and stare off into nothing. Alfie heads to the kitchen. I hear her grab something and begin pouring water. She slowly walks back over and hands me a wooden bowl with water inside.

I stare into the water seeing my face for the first time ever. My complexion was pale with a medium stature nose, blue eyes, fair lips, dark rings around my eyes, small number of freckles, and deep blond hair like the color of honey. I smile and then go to sip on the water. Alfie is already sitting down smoking again. There is only silence between us as we wonder in our own thoughts. My thoughts wonder between my pact, my chasers, and my journey here with Reed. I look at Alfie and ask, “What is this village called? And are your people called Foksan? How do you know Dusek?” She softly laughed and dumped her pipe into the bowl, “The village is called Viredo. Our people have not been called Foksan in over 100 years, now we go by Zorran. You have much to learn about the world my dear.”

I finish the water in my bowl. From nowhere, Reed comes screaming inside the house with a basket full of vegetables and fruits, and I jump unexpectedly to drop my bowl to the floor. Reed screams, “I…food! Look grandmother!” Alfie looks and acknowledges the amount of food Reed has. I relax some and ask, “Dear creator – Reed did you not realize you scared us?” Reed’s ear lower and he responds, “I do not understand.” Alfie tells Reed what was said, and he scratches his head. “Sorry. I... excited.” I nod. Alfie looks at me and says, “No one in this village will understand you. I am the last to understand Dusekan. I am not sure how many people in this world still know it.” My heart sank hearing that. Alfie smiles as the man and woman from last night come inside, “Meet Reed’s parents – Furlaus, his father, and Eivon, his mother.” I bow my head out of respect for allowing me to stay here.

I look back up at Furlaus, Eivon and Reed to see their similarities as they stand side-by-side to each other. Furlaus is tall, has tan skin, brown hair, his ears, and tail are brown with black tips, golden eyes, a long nose, fair lips, and no freckles. On the other hand, Eivon is short, has fair skin, sandy color hair, her ears and tail are sandy colored with white tips, emerald eyes, short nose, fuller lips than Furlaus, and some freckles. I look over to Alfie to final realize she is short, pale skin, silver hair, silver ears and tail with no tips, emerald eyes, short nose, thin lips, and no freckles. Furlaus coughs to get my attention and says, “What…your name?” At that moment I realize I never gave any of them my name. I think for a while trying to remember my name, but nothing comes to me. Furlaus says something to Alfie, eventually Alfie fills her pipe, lights it with a candle, takes a puff, and asks, “Can you not remember dear?” I nod and reply, “I must have lost my memory because I can only remember the last two days.” Reed is standing on a stool washing the vegetables and fruit in the sink and Eivon is sitting on the floor peeling potatoes with a knife. Alfie replies to Furlaus on what I told her, he nods, and leaves the house.

After Furlaus leaves, I look over to Alfie to ask, “Is he upset?” She takes a moment to think and responses, “I doubt it, child. During this time of the day, he is helping the villagers. Viredo is a small yet struggling village. Furlaus does everything to help his people”. Wow. To think Furlaus is practically the mayor of Viredo. Although, I doubt the Zorran people have mayors, therefore Furlaus is probably considered a chieftain. Eivon finishes peeling the potatoes and sits them on the counter near the sink with a cloth on top. She looks over to me and asks, “…you…to bath?” I smile and nod. Eivon grabs a pair of hand-woven shorts, shirt, and cloth from a shelf near the beds. She also grabs a handmade bar of soap before putting everything in a hand-woven bag. She slings the bag over her shoulder and helps me up. At this moment, I finally realize that I am dressed in shorts instead of that grass skirt that Reed made. Once I am standing, Eivon hands me my walking stick Reed made for me and an apple. “Long walk”, she softly says. She carries an empty bushel basket.

We begin to travel west through the village, which led us to a dirt plaza in front of a chapel. The chapel was small, but many people gather at the plaza and many children were playing in front of the chapel. Beyond the plaza was a huge lake where a dock resides, and many adults were fishing near the shore. Eivon and I followed the shores of the lake heading north until we see the waterfall pouring into the lake. By now I already ate the apple and had thrown the apple core in the grass. We walk up the steep hill to the tree covered river above. The river flowed down from a forest to the north-west of Viredo. “Here…you bathe.” I nodded in respond to Eivon. She sets the bag down near a tree sitting close to the river. I walk up to the shallow yet calm waters of the river unlike the waters near the waterfall south of us. Before removing my shorts, I look back to see Eivon sitting behind a tree facing away from the river, which calmed my nerves. I sit the walking stick near the bag, grabbed the soap from the bag, removed my shorts and bandages, and sat in the very cold water.

To my surprised, the cut on my right shoulder had already closed, but the area is still bruised and sore. I dipped the soap in the water and began to rub it over my body, which I never realized how dirty I really was prior to now. The dirt, filth, and soap floated down stream. After a few minutes, I hear rustling, to only look back at Eivon standing up. She is grabbing apples from some trees in the distance and putting the apples in the bushel basket she brought. I look away, pondering about my future, before dipping my head into the water. I shake my head before lathering the soap in my hair. I think back on Reed and his family to only realize that Eivon and Alfie look like they were born from another region. I mindlessly say out loud, “Eivon, did you ever live anywhere else?” There was silence before she replied, “Yes, north of here, where snow lays”. Surprised that she replied to me, but her response makes sense. Furlaus’ and Reed’s fur helps them camouflage in this region better. I dunk my head into the water again to wash all the soap out of my hair.

Once I bring my head out of the water, Eivon walks over, and says, “Stay here. Danger in village.” She dashes off with the bushel basket - faster than any human can run. How can she sense danger? Then again, she is a Zorran and their sense are probably heighten compared to humans. I get out of the water to grab the cloth in the bag to dry my body off. The hot weather in this region makes the cold water feel good. I grab the fade red shorts and white shirt from the bag before putting the soap, cloth, and old shorts back in the bag. I carefully put my new clothes on and sit down underneath the tree. A few minutes pass and I begin to worry about Eivon, her family, and the villagers in Viredo. I try to brush off the feeling knowing that the Zorran people are strong and can handle themselves, but I quickly hear a soft whisper in my mind speak. Head to the village. Soldiers from the capitol are currently there. Hearing that causes me to panic, so I get up, grab the bag and walking stick, and begin to head back to Viredo.

The entire walk back, all I thought about the safety of the villagers and Reed's family. My wound burned in irritation as I carried the bag, so I took a moment to sling the bag on my other shoulder before continuing. Eventually, I was on the outskirts of town near the fields to the north-west of the plaza. Hide when you get there. The soldiers are dangerous. Dangerous? I gulp in fear and heed the warning from the voice inside my head. I slowly and quietly walk up to the backside of the houses near the north-west fields. I get close as possible to the plaza without being seen and quickly glance around the corner of the building to see all of the villagers in the plaza. The soldiers are all behind two men, which one is in full armor, and another to look like a servant from the capitol. Maybe in the one in armor is the General?

“...this all the people in Viredo!” shouts the man in armor. Furlaus responds calmly, “Yes. ...you see, our population has not changed since...”. The shorter man next to the man in armor starts counting and asking the people their names. After checking this paper in his hands, he looks up to the man in armor and says, “General, the count...correct, and everyone...present.” The General says something I cannot hear and looks at Furlaus, “...I find out you...hiding a dead body or refugee, then you...the one to pay!” Furlaus bows his head in submission and the General shouts something to the men before they ride off. They head east back where Reed and I originally came from yesterday. I sit down, resting my back to the building, facing the lake as I ponder about these men coming to Viredo. Why does it seem like they are looking for me? I sigh realizing I am bring trouble to these people and Reed's family.

Reed walks up to the side of the building and calmly says, “...you okay?”. I jump a little and look over to him and nod. I get up with the walking stick and bag in hand, and follow Reed back to the plaza. Eivon looks up and quickly walks up to me to grab the bag. “Sorry for leaving you.”, Eivon quietly says. I smile and reply, “It's okay.” Alfie, Eivon, Reed, and I head back to the house while Furlaus stayed back to talk to the villagers. I am sure the villagers are very concerned about the soldiers. Once at the house, the bag was left near the front door, and everyone except Eivon all sit down on the floor near the hearth. Eivon is in the kitchen cutting up the peeled potatoes and washed vegetables from earlier. Alfie had already light her pipe and eventually says, “I cannot believe...people. They...from the capitol, demanding a head count, and searching our homes...someone they cannot find.” A head count and searching their homes? For what?

I look over to Reed whom has his ears down as he probably thinks back on the situation. I look over to Alfie and say, “What were they looking for?” Eivon speaks up and replies, “They...looking for the body of the prince. He died about three or four days ago.” Three or four days ago?!? My stomach twists up from panic and fear. I take a deep breath before I say, “Did they say what the prince looked like?” Eivon lights the hearth, goes back to the counter, brings a large pot with water inside, and hangs the pot from a long hook coming down from the ceiling. Alfie responds to my question, “No. They did not disclose the identity of the prince. The General said they would know when they found the thief or the body.” I sigh realizing that brought me no closure to my worry. Eventually, the water comes to a boil, Eivon grabs the bowl from the counter and begins pouring all the vegetables into the pot. She adds herbs, a large bone, and a thick broth that smells of beef. How do they preserve broth? Maybe it was from this morning?

Reed and I decided to take a nap on the floor after our stressful day. Before falling asleep, Eivon and Alfie were talking about the village, autumn coming soon, the change of harvest, the soldiers, and other things I could not remember. I woke up to Furlaus coming home with raw meat in his hands and Reed shouting in excitement. Eivon takes the meat to chop it in smaller pieces, and eventually adding the meat into the pot. When she lifted the lid, the aroma from the stew filled the house, and makes my mouth water. I look over to see Furlaus laughing as Reed pretends to be big and strong. Furlaus picks him up and hugs him hard. Eventually dinner is served and we all are poured a serving of beef stew with potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and many other vegetables.

Reed and Eivon help clean up after dinner. Reed stands on the stool near the sink filled with water and washes the dishes. Eivon pours the remaining stew into bowls and temporarily sets them aside. Furlaus puts spoons inside the bowls, covers them in a thin cloth, and says, “I...taking the remaining stew to other villagers...need.” He grabs the three bowls and walks out. I smile knowing how much Furlaus cares for his people and how much his family gives to help others. Eivon, Alfie and I are sitting near the hearth as Reed lays down to sleep for the night. Alfie breaks the silence and says, “Child, would you like to learn the common language of the lands?”. Her question catches me off guard, but I reply, “I would love to.” She smiles and responses, “Well, Furlaus and Eivon though that you should attend Urhasian and become a member of our Viredo.”

 “Ur-ha-sian?” I ask. Alfie laughs and replies, “Urhasian means early year. That is how we describe our early years of education.” I smile at the thought of learning more about the world, finally understanding the common language, and becoming a member of Viredo. I ask, “When do I start?” Alfie looks over at me and smiles, “You can start tomorrow if you want.” I reply, “I want to start tomorrow.” In matter of minutes, I had become a member of Viredo and was offered the opportunity to start advancing my education. Furlaus came back shortly after, we all decided to get some rest after seeing how late the night was, and the hearth fire was put out.