The Curse Of Earthias

Chapter 2-2

She laughed. ‘You make it sound like my encouraging you to be social is a bad thing!' Glancing around, she lowered her voice and said, 'And there is something important I have been meaning to tell you.’

‘Oh?’ he said suspiciously, scowling at all the young men who were still gawking at her. Those who met his gaze suddenly discovered they had better things to do and scurried off out of sight. Kai relaxed a little, until he caught Xanna's amused expression.

‘Have no fear, brother mine!' she chuckled. 'It is nothing like that, I have no intention of settling down and getting married yet. Not with my new role to think about.’

‘New role? What new role? Are you not in charge of the crops anymore?’

‘Listen to you, panicking already. Yes, I am still in charge of the crops. But Lady Sia thinks I am ready for something even more challenging.'

What was more challenging than the role she already had? ‘Wait, do you mean…? She cannot be promoting you to high sage yet, surely?’ he said, but the look in her eyes told him that he’d got the answer in one. ‘Really? High Sage of Earthias?’

‘Yes,’ she said excitedly. ‘But you must keep quiet about it until tonight when we officially reveal it at the ceremony.’ She inhaled sharply, putting a hand to her head. ‘The ceremony! The festival preparations! I have got to make sure the fires are all lit and that everyone knows what they are doing! Kai, you have got to help me!’

‘But I—‘

She took him by the arm and dragged him over to a group of children who were holding ribbons and flowers, standing so awkwardly that it was clear they had no idea what to do with them. Leaving him with the sack of Lightus bulbs in his hands, Xanna ran off again with no explanation.

‘Who are you?’ one boy asked, jabbing Kai sharply in the thigh with a sharp branch. ‘I have never seen you in the village before.’

‘Yes, who are you, and what were you doing with Xanna?’ a girl said, eyeing him suspiciously.

How was he supposed to interact with children when he was barely comfortable talking to other adults? He stepped away from the boy with the branch and cleared his throat. ‘My name is Kai, and I am Xanna’s twin brother,’ he explained, speaking slowly and clearly so as not to confuse them.

'Why are you talking like that? You had better not think we are stupid,' the boy said, lunging at him with the branch. Kai danced aside. The pain from the boy's last few jabs hadn't worn off yet; he didn't feel like making it worse. ‘I am sorry, but I am not used to children. I come from the dark side of the forest where Grandfather Heen lives.’

At this, they all leapt back, muttering darkly. Several times he caught the words ‘creature’ and ‘could be dangerous’. He tried saying something else, but they wouldn’t listen to him.

Behind him, someone let out a light chuckle. ‘I see you are as popular as ever, Kai.’

He turned to see Evange, Xanna’s oldest friend, leaning against the door of the nearest hut – her own, he realised. She was nearly as tall as he was – a surprise since the last time he’d seen her she'd barely been up to his shoulders – and she was full figured with it. He blushed, his cheeks turning a deeper green than normal. Even when they were youngsters, she'd made his heart do wild things.

‘I have missed you,’ she continued, her voice warm. ‘Tell me, how many years has it been since you have stepped foot here?’

He coughed and glanced at his feet. ‘Four or five, I think.’

‘I thought as much; no wonder the children do not remember you. What tempted you away from Grandfather Heen's grasp? Did Xanna’s pleas finally work? Or is there,' she paused, her intense eyes studying him from his legs to his face, 'another reason?’

‘I...thought it would be nice to come back for a while,’ he said, deliberately avoiding her gaze.

Evange sighed. ‘Never mind, at least you got here in plenty of time for the festival. Though it looks like Xanna has wasted no time in enlisting your help.’ She shook her head and took the bag of Lightus bulbs from his grasp. ‘Here. They need to be planted in a semi-circle at each compass point, and then in one large circle in the centre there. You will see that the lines have all been chalked out to help you.’ She turned to the children, who were twirling the ribbons about in a game. ‘I hope you are all listening, too. Half of you are to help Kai and myself plant these bulbs. The rest of you need to plait those ribbons together and place them evenly around the large central circle. I shall be watching closely to make sure you are doing what you are told, understand?’

‘Yes, Evange,’ they mumbled miserably.

‘Good. Now, shall we get started?’

While they worked, Evange questioned Kai about everything and anything to do with his life away from the villages. Seeing that she seemed to take genuine interest, he gladly explained how he helped Grandfather Heen researching the forest's creatures, and his own studies of Earth Healer lore – excluding the parts of history he knew Lady Sia would want him to keep secret.

‘Did you know that Earthias is not our original home?’ he asked her.

‘What do you mean? We have lived here for thousands of years; the songs say so,’ she replied, smoothing earth over a bulb she’d freshly planted. She sprinkled water on it from a pitcher she’d brought with her, and moments later the ground where the bulb lay glowed a faint blue.

‘Yes, but what about the time before the songs?’ Kai pointed out. ‘In Grandfather Heen’s books, it says that we travelled for weeks to find a forest large enough for our people to thrive in, and years after that for us to grow accustomed to the climate here.’

Evange straightened, her brow creased. ‘Then where did we travel from?'

‘The books are vague about it, but from what I have put together, I think it was the forests by the waterfalls of Foe'ehm. The books mention that a tremor from the Underworld blocked part of the waterfalls off, flooding a wide area.’

Shuddering, Evange said, ‘I do not want to even think about the Underworld.' She put her hands on her hips, suddenly brightening. 'Do you remember, before the outbreak, when Grandfather Heen used to tell us stories of the great warrior Gentunn Dorretblade? The one who was so skilled that he saved sixteen human soldiers from the demons?’

Kai chewed the inside of his cheek. It was hard for him to think about the time before his parents had died, but a vague memory of sitting in a circle listening to the old Earth Healer surfaced in his mind. He smiled. ‘If I remember rightly, those stories made you cry.’

‘I am sure I was not the only one,’ she said tartly. ‘His descriptions of the demons were terrifying. Have you ever wondered what would happen if they emerged again?’

‘I cannot say I have given it much thought,’ he replied. ‘Anyway, they were sealed away in Mal Roch’etchu. They cannot come back.’

‘So the stories say. But how do we know it is true? I doubt any of the humans have ventured back up there to check if the seal still holds,’ she said.

Kai scratched his chin, leaving a faint smear of dirt along it from his soil covered fingers. ‘Hundreds of years have passed since then. If the demons somehow managed to break the seal, I am sure there would be signs of their return by now. Even cut off as we are, word like that would reach us in some way.’

Evange looked at him. ‘Do you really think so? Apart from those travellers who stumbled in here, we have had no contact from outside the forest in decades. I would not be surprised if the humans have completely forgotten who we are.’

He hesitated; she had a point. 'You may be right,' he said at last. 'The books certainly do not tell of any long-standing liaisons with them after the Last Battle. And I cannot say I am eager to change that, either. I know humans are individuals, but I am more than happy for them to keep their distance from us.’

‘It is good to know you have not changed, Kai,' she said with a light laugh. 'I really am happy to see you again.'

Darkness fell, signalling for all the fires to be lit. Their vibrant flames showered the night with a spectrum of colours and sent shadows dancing over every surface. The glow of the little Lightus bulbs had also strengthened by then, making the semi circles on the compass points visible even from some distance away, and the central circle became the focus of the large crowd gathered in the area.

Lady Sia came out of her hut, dressed in a gown of golden leaves. The Wise Woman was neither tall nor short, but somewhere comfortably in the middle, and her long hair trailed down her back. Kai noticed a few new wrinkles around the creases of her eyes, but aside from that, her skin was as smooth as he remembered. As the crowd parted to let her walk to the circle's edge, a hush rippled through all of Foet, even reaching a family of mice living in the undergrowth on the outskirts of the village.

The festival had begun.

Using her Etherin, Lady Sia encouraged two dark shoots to sprout up either side of her, growing them into thick vines forming an archway that would act as the entrance to the circle. Delicate purple leaves and pale flowers blossomed on the vines, and as soon as they matured, Lady Sia stepped back and let the performers who had silently lined up behind her enter the circle. Four young women in white gowns came first, carrying large wicker baskets on their heads, each one filled with dried flower petals and leaves from the previous year.

The moment their feet touched the glowing soil, the musicians, seated to one side of the circle, struck up a slow melody that quickened gradually as the women cast the leaves and petals onto the ground.

Once all the petals had been scattered, they picked up the plaited ribbons the children had placed there earlier and held them end to end so that they, too, formed a circle. Together they twirled and weaved in patterns so intricate that Kai couldn’t even begin to follow them, and then came together in one motion at the sound of the final drumbeat. They parted again as a single flute picked up the melody once more, kneeling on the ground to face each of the glowing compass points.

The flautist played a series of energetic trills, and then another figure made their way through the archway and into the centre of the circle.

An excited chatter spread through the crowd at Xanna's presence, echoed by the chill that crept up Kai’s spine as he realised she was performing the part of the high sage, which hadn't been included in the opening ceremony since the last sage had passed on. So this was what she’d meant by revealing her role! He’d expected a speech by Lady Sia at the end, not something this dramatic.

Xanna's red dress had been adorned with twigs and leaves and her hair was braided into a bun. Raising her arms gracefully, she performed a series of complex gestures, ending with taking a single Lightus bulb from her sleeve and placing it on the ground in front of her.

She circled around the bulb, speaking soft words that were complimented by the music, rising into song. Her voice was expressive and strong, growing and receding in volume, and as it did so, the Lightus bulb began to sprout. Faster and faster it grew, spreading out into a tree that was almost as tall as she was. Finally, the tree was mature enough to grow its fat, soft skinned fruit. She picked one as it ripened and handed it to Lady Sia, who took a bite from it and let the juice roll down her chin. Seconds later, a light blue haze engulfed the Wise Woman's body, from the dark green of her hair down to her light green toes.

Holding the fruit up high, she gestured to Xanna, pride in every corner of her expression. The crowd, including Kai, erupted in applause, for all of them knew that only a true sage could grow fruit from the Lightus tree that made the eater glow.

After that, everyone got up to dance and sing, each taking a fruit from the Lightus tree so that they also glowed with a blue haze. Uncomfortable around so many people, Kai tried to edge away from the crowd as soon as he’d picked his fruit, but Evange caught him by the sleeve.

‘Please do not escape to some dark corner, Kai. Come and celebrate Xanna’s success with us,’ she urged, and before he knew it, she was dancing the first steps of the Dance of the Four Seasons, and he had no choice but to follow along.

When the fires had died down to low embers and the majority of the crowd had ambled off to their beds, including Evange, Lady Sia came over to Xanna and Kai and asked them into her hut. Like most Earth Healer accommodation, the interior was an open plan area with a fireplace, study, and bed. There was little furniture beside the essentials, though it was all expertly carved from various woods and highly polished to allow the grain to shine through.

‘It is so wonderful to see you both together,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper. Taking a seat by the fire, she motioned for them to do the same. ‘I feel like I have not seen you properly since you were children.’

Xanna giggled. ‘Now that is a ridiculous thing to say. You have been talking to me all day, not to mention our weekly meetings,’ she said.

Sia’s cheeks flushed a deep emerald. ‘Now, now, Xanna, I am sure you understand what I mean.’

‘I do,’ Xanna replied. ‘It is good to sit and talk like this together. Well, if we were all talking,’ she said, looking meaningfully at Kai. ‘You are being rather quiet, brother.’

‘Do not tease him, Xanna,’ Sia chided. ‘I know he has never been one to waste words unnecessarily. And I am certain that his energetic dancing with Evange has surely tired him out.’ She turned to Kai, taking in his sharp chin and lengthy, bright red hair, matched well against the hue of his skin, even if his face was still a little flushed from his efforts. ‘I must say, the two of you really do look like your parents. It almost feels like they are here with us now.’

‘I suppose they are, in a way,’ Kai said softly. ‘They became part of the forest like all the others we lost at that time.’

‘You are right,’ Sia said. ‘Tell me, Kai, how is Grandfather Heen these days? He has not come here to report anything in the last three years. I only know he is still alive from what Xanna tells me when she comes back from visiting.’

‘You know how he is, my lady. He likes to keep to himself if he can...unless he finds me doing something unsatisfactory, and then every creature within a league can hear him. But he is kind in his own way, and he does let me study Earth Healer lore whenever I want to. He has such a vast collection of books and documents stacked away in his hut that I have barely made it through half of them in all the time I have been there.’

‘So you do not intend on coming back here to live with us yet?’ Sia asked seriously.

‘No, not yet. I feel there is more I need to learn,’ he replied. ‘But I will come back if you wish it. Is there something that you wanted me to do?’

Sia glanced away, avoiding his gaze. ‘I...have grave news to tell you both,’ she said, as though every word hurt her to speak it. ‘You may have to steel yourself.’

Instantly, the twins were absolutely focused on her. It wasn’t like her to hesitate. ‘Tell us, my lady,’ Kai urged. ‘We are ready to hear whatever it is you have to say.’

Lady Sia sighed and said three words. ‘I am dying.’