Chapter 2
Danny
Veaset the 1st of A'Fora, Year 6,276 TN. Afternoon
Never Unchained
“Okay class, now that we’ve finished the herbalism module I would like you to slide open your historical slip scrolls to sections 43 through 59. You should be seeing the section about the beginning of the Great war of gods that started in year 1658 BN, and ended in year 3833 BN. A war that lasted 2,175 years. And You’ll see in section 59 a picture of the Tari Nova, what has made us into the great species we’ve become today. Now, can anyone tell me what the Tari Nova is, and what it represents?” Ms. Classen asked, smoothing out her skirt with her hands and glancing around the room. Everyone in the class pulled the bottom tab on the cylindrical metal tubes, revealing paper on a ream. We pulled the end of the paper out and ran it into a slit in the top of the slip scroll tubes, allowing us to slide the paper back into the scroll so it didn’t trail out as we read. Several students raised their hands, including me. “Freitza, what do you think it is?” She asked pointing at Freitza.
“The Tari Nova took place in year 3,833 BN, and it was a colossal explosion of energy that leveled the final battlefield in the Great War; it’s what most refer to now as the Red desert, and it represents the beginning of the Elematii, or Elematiis. It’s also the day that the world reset the calendar. It went from Bennal’s calendar, year 3,833 BN, to the Tari calendar’s year 1 TN.” Freitza stated sticking her nose in the air proudly.
“Yes, a satisfactory answer but not quite what I’m looking for. Anyone else?” Ms. Classen asked as we all raised our hands again. “Danny, what is your input?” She asked, pointing at me.
“My answer is similar to Freitzas, it was a great explosion of the Gods energy colliding. As the energies met it absorbed into one great ball which rose so high in the sky that historians say it could be seen across half the planet before it exploded, and it destroyed the entire kingdom of Frey’s Oasis. The energy-, or tari, was so concentrated that it didn’t dissipate, so it spread throughout our atmosphere and then our planet, mutating all life forms.” I said, while fidgeting with my pencil.
“Great answer Danny, but it didn’t mutate us. It evolved us. The Tari Nova had a huge part to play in our evolution. Without it, we’d probably still just be hairy, stupid apes. She replied smiling and sitting in her desk chair.
“Well, I guess that’s all just a matter of perspective.” I said, glancing up at the time-vines as I tugged the top end of my slip scroll to allow the pages to retract. It pulled back out from the top slit and slid back into the bottom with the tab slightly protruding. I then started to organize my collection of slip scrolls. The vines on the time-vine weaved in and out of the stone wall as the minute changed, forming the Elemat symbols for the numbers 3:59.
“And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Daniel? Have you met a human? They are primitive and weak little beings that do nothing but destroy and cause us grief. Do you not agree with the fate the world has decided for them? Because I’d like for us not to have this conversation again.” She said sternly, wrinkling her nose at me.
“No. I don’t. I Believe-.” I started to say as the time-vines shifted again and the Howlfly cried out right on cue. Everyone jumped out of their seats to pack up their things. I thought about finishing my sentence but decided not to give her another reason to send me to the elder’s office again. I grabbed my stack of slip scrolls and stuffed them into my pack, standing and heading for the door. It didn’t take much for me to ignore her glare, but deep down I had to admit it still annoyed me.
“Oh! Please remember class, I expect a three-page essay on the Final Battle of Tari by the end of the week. Have a good break!” Ms. Classen hurriedly stated as the class scurried to leave for the week-long break. As I started walking into the hall I felt a familiar arm wrap around my shoulder.
“What a racist, eh? Why do you always let her views bother you? What does her opinion matter?” Freitza asked, chuckling and releasing me from her death grip.
“She’s just so… Ignorant. I’ll admit, I’ve never met a human, but I also know that neither has she. We’ve been secluded for our entire lives in our humble little town.” I remarked with a sarcastic tone, adding air quotations to the word humble. “How do we even know if the scrolls are legitimate anymore? And if so, it tells us about the past. Not the present. You forget Freitz, history is written by its winners.” I replied, my words still slick with sarcasm. I was irritated at yet another lecture of, ‘we are better than them, so they don’t deserve rights’ from Ms. ‘Know-it-all.’ Freitza laughed and smiled at me, the same smile she always wore when I was fighting an uphill battle.
“You’re too smart for your own good sometimes, you know that?” She replied, readjusting her pack strap to back up onto her shoulder. I shook my head.
“I’m just sick of the same old song and dance. When will we learn something new? Or even go on a trip somewhere other than the Endzone?” I said with a sigh. Her eyes widened.
“Danny… You know that anywhere outside the Endzone isn’t safe. We need to stay here, in Volfclen. You know, until all the crazies are gone.” She stated, patting my shoulder sympathetically.
“Yeah… I know, the curse and all that… So, on a lighter note. Do you want to come over to my place and practice our Elemancy? I’ve been practicing a lot in my free time so I’ve gotten fairly good at Geomancy, if I do say so myself.” I said with pride as she began to chuckle at me. As she grinned her internal light shone its usual amber glow from somewhere down her throat. Freitza was a Valkorri, one of the four types of Elematiis. Her race primarily used Pyromancy, but they were also capable of manipulating magma, and in rare cases lightning, but as far as I knew Freitz could only bend fire to her will. She had these small holes where most races have temples on her head which she could use to vent the heat from within, allowing her to lower her internal temperature. Her entire body was pitch black with light cracks of glowing red, orange, and yellow. The light was produced by the core at the center of her chest, which burned so hot that it glowed through the chests of all Valkorri. It was great, because when me and Freitz were little and had sleepovers I was never without a nightlight.
“Sorry Dan-man, I can’t today. I have to get ready for the night hunt.” She replied as I pouted slightly, thinking about the hunts. They took place every week on Sycset, except during the month of Syre, then it happened mid-month from Diviniset to Sycset. That’s 5 days out of the month, and I barely got to see Freitza on those days. Because she was a full cycle older than I was she was able to start joining the hunts last year, but I’ve had to wait until this cycle. I have been curious about what goes on during the night hunts since I was little, but the villagers who participate refused to share any information about it when I asked, not even Freitz. My First day was soon, and then I could also join the ranks of Volfclens best hunters while father groomed me to take his place as chieftain.
“Aww, alright. Tomorrow then?” I ask, nudging at her arm with my elbow. She chuckled at me and then nodded.
“Tomorrow sounds great. I’ll school you in the true definition of fire power!” She replied with a grin as she took off down the hall, weaving skillfully through the crowd of students. Elematiis of all ethnicities made up the student body of Hywearn house, the only school in Volfclen. There were Terranians like me who could bend the stone and the ground beneath us; Geomancers. The Valkorri like Freitz who manipulated fire using an energy link through their cores; Pyromancers. The Aqueans who could not only bend liquids, but were also able to adapt to live in the waters of Eden; Hydromancers. And a few Aireai who would bend and float upon the breezes we breathed; Aeromancers. These were the four elemental variants of Elematiis that I’d been studying since I was little. I wanted to understand why we developed so differently from one another, considering that all Elematiis evolved from humans. I mean, Terranians looked mostly like we were made from smoothed stone, with shoulders made from rocky materials, heels that could sense the tremors below us, and bone-like spikes that protruded from our elbows. The Aqueans adapted so well to the waters that they had gills, blue skin, webbed extremities, and some even grew to resemble the marine based creatures they swam with. The Aireai were tall and thin with pale blue/grey skin, clearly built to take aerodynamics into account. And I’ve already mentioned the Valkorri when describing Freitza. We were all so different and I couldn’t help but be curious as to why. I began to make my way down the hall as well, dodging through the crowd with much less grace than Freitza. As I pushed through the door to outside and stretched my arms into the open sky I noticed that the son was beating down on our village gently, making the forest that outlined our home radiate in vibrant shades of green. Because our village was surrounded by the Forest of Silence only a small breeze could slip through the trees once in awhile to cool us. Gratefully it’s a rain forest, so normally the weather wasn’t so bad. Today, however, it was pretty hot out. I raised my arm over my head to shield my face from the son as I began heading home. Glancing around the streets of Volfclen I could tell that most of the village was already prepared for the night hunt. Only half the adult population of our village could be seen performing their day to day duties. My father assured me this was to ensure that the village remained protected while the others hunt, so they rotate groups of people biweekly to make sure there’s always a group of adults here to keep the young safe. After taking a shortcut through a small patch of trees, I arrived home. Staring at our flat faced, rectangular home reminded me of the joy I felt not even a week ago, when father told me that in honor of my coming of age I would receive an entire floor to myself. We worked together to raise a story of stone from beneath our feet and he educated me on how quickly something can go from below us to above us in the food chain, much like the stone we were bending. As per custom with Terranians, our house didn’t have a door. It was completely made from stone we had raised and compacted, and every window and entrance was created only by our preference. Approaching the stone wall my front pathway led right into, I extended my hand and then waved it once to the side. A “me” sized rectangle of cold stone pulled outward toward me and slid off to the side, leaning slightly against the open doorway I had created. I smiled in response, pridefully inspecting the edges of the stone rectangle I’d pulled out. They weren’t clean cuts like that of a blade, but they were much less jagged and rough than my earlier attempts. My father once told me that only the best Geomancers could pull bricks from Eden in straight cuts, and one day I aimed to be one of the best. I had to be if I was to protect all of Volfclen. Tossing my pack to the ground, I walked to the center of our den and poked at the ashen heap that was our hearth fire. The coals were still warm, meaning father would not be gone long, otherwise he’d have cooled the coals first. I walked over to my bag and pulled out my doodle slip scroll, one used mostly for goofing off in class, and tore a large chunk of paper from it. As I walked back to the fire I tore it into even smaller pieces, placing them where I thought best to breathe life back into this fire. Once I was pleased with the placement, I sat down beside the hearth and placed my hands on either side of it as I exhaled a deep breath onto the coals. They glowed red briefly then began to fade. My timing was off. I took another deep breath and blew onto the coals, this time as they lit up I focused energy from my aura into the coals to sustain that glow so I had time to take another breath. With the final breath all of my little paper chunks lit ablaze for long enough to ignite one of the unburnt logs that was hanging off to the side. I stood and lightly kicked the log back into the flames, debating playing with fire. Glancing over my shoulder, I surveyed the room. Father isn’t home yet and I should hear him enter, what would be the harm in trying to learn something new? I thought to myself as I crouched back down beside the fire, extending my hand out toward it and focusing on my palm.
“Open the Tari point, then release slowly.” I whispered out loud, hearing my fathers words speak with me in unison in my head as I willed my palm to become the focal point of my energy. As my energy poured from my palm and extended past my aura the fire seemed to respond positively, now flicking and leaning in my direction. I watched as the flames danced toward my hand, drawn to my energy.
“Daniel. What is it you hope to accomplish by feeding the flames?”
My father asked, nearly scaring me out of my skin. I quickly rose to greet him only to have him walk up and sit at my side. Following suit, I sat back down and began to fidget my fingers.
“I was just practicing a different method of your teachings.” I replied, bowing my head to him in respect. He laughed quietly to himself.
“It is okay to want answers Danny, but in order to get the ones you want you first need to ask the-.” He started to say as I cut him off.
“The right questions, yes father. I know.” I said as he simply shook his head, his warm brown eyes gazing intently into the fire.
“No.. You need to know how to ask the question the right way. Otherwise, there is much danger in curiosity.” He replied, scratching at his big brown beard as he leaned his square shaped face on his other hand lazily. He always had a relaxed look about him which made me wonder when the wrinkles that signified a stressful life had made their mark on him. He’d looked like this for as long as I could remember, give or take a few greying hairs. With the physique of an aging warrior, father took a deep breath while pulling his long hair braid over his shoulder and blew onto the fire. It pushed away from him with a surprising amount of force before it evened out and began to grow. I jumped back and put up my arm to shield myself, but the flames only ever grew upward, eventually licking at the cold stone roof around the chimney hole.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my attention never leaving the fire. He stopped exhaling and took a small breath, nodding toward the flames.
“That is what you were trying to do, right? With control, feeding your energy into an element can do amazing things, my boy. But if you lose that control, or gods forbid you feed to much energy into it, it becomes a destructive force. Fire is not an element you have learned to manipulate, so you feeding it your energy can only lead to the latter outcome. You know how this works. I’ve taught you many times that you must learn about what it is you try to control before you can truly tame it.” Father replied sounding a little disappointed. I thought hard on his statement. He was right, he had taught me these truths. I just got so excited to learn how I could affect things with my energy that I’d forget the basic principles. I was too old to be making such simple mistakes, I should’ve known better by now.
“But none of this is what you wanted to ask me about, now is it Danny?” He asked, standing up while using nothing but the wave of his hand to pull a large plate of stone and dirt up from the floor. He used the newly protruding chunk of stone to flatten the hearth before sliding the spare chunks of stone back into the hole he’d just made. I stared in disbelief. I had only just started that fire…
“Hey, I- Oh! You’re talking about the night hunt?” I replied, instantly forgetting about my wasted efforts. He picked at a new scratch across his stone shoulder plate as a grin spread across his face.
“Yes, I have something for you now that it’s the eve of your 16th First day. You are becoming a man soon. This means I may share the secrets of our people, but more importantly, the secrets of our clan.” He said, pulling a bag out from behind his back that I didn’t notice before. I ran my hands through my ashen brown hair, my blue eyes darting around the room as I thought about what this meant for me.
“And you’ll tell me the secrets of the night hunt?” I asked, rocking back and fourth in place. For years I've pondered about the night hunts. Once I even tried to stalk the hunters as they set out. Needless to say, they busted me immediately and then sold me out to my father. The punishment was harsh and unbearable. For two weeks straight I was forced to perform synchronized Geomancy, building practice walls from stone with Terranian children in the village. To be fair, it was worth it in the end. Had I not gone out to try and follow them I never would’ve learned how skilled our hunters were, or how after dusk they had an odd air about them. Their whole persona seemed to change. At first I assumed it was them trying to get pumped up before the hunt, like how you would for a test or a sports competition, but my mind changed when I realized that it wasn’t just one or two of them with this resolve. Each and every one of them had suddenly become cut-throat predators. For several years father had been training me to take his place one day as chieftain of our clan. He spent that time teaching me history and present time information about the world around us so I’d know how to protect us from it. He’d also taught me many of our peoples customs, but he’s never once told me anything about the night hunts, despite me asking.
“Walk with me Danny.” Father said sternly, silencing my mindless babble. He then turned and started walking toward his bedroom, ushering me along with him. For the first time in my life he allowed me to enter his room. It was eerily empty. There was no furniture aside from the bed, and no décor whatsoever. We walked to the edge of his straw bed and he started to paw around at the bedspread while mumbling quietly to himself.
“Why sleep on straw?” I asked as he removed his sheets and blankets.
“This is why I sleep on straw.” He replied, only half paying attention as he began to dig down into the center of his bed. I stood at his side and patiently waited for the answers to my life studies.
“Aha! I found it!” He roared, startling me. I leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that he had found. He glanced at me over his shouboul and then back at what ever it was in his hands as if second guessing allowing me to receive his gift.
“Aww, come on Father! You're killing me here.” I groaned, running both of my hands through my hair and tugging slightly at the roots.
“Impatient? How unlike you.” He said, chuckling at the thought of me finally cracking under pressure. After letting out a long sigh, he finally turned around to reveal a silver chain necklace with the tooth of a large beast hanging at its base. He then escorted me back out of his room and into the den where he sat beside the bag he had pulled out earlier. From the bag he removed a small wooden box covered in strange symbols, and a hand sized sphere being cradled by a silk handkerchief that looked as if it was filled with black smoky clouds. I stared at the box curiously as my father gave me a few seconds to take it all in.
“The sphere will be explained at a later time, most likely tonight.” He said intently, his tone cold and serious. “First off, once I’ve given this necklace to you it signifies that you’ve agreed to the terms of receival. You may never take this off, and under no circumstances may you lose any of these items. Once you accept these things they are a part of you, an extension of yourself. Understand?” He asked, his eyes locked on mine.
“Yes Father, I understand. But if I may, what is all this? I’ve never heard of this custom.” I tried to say in reply as fathers energy suddenly felt very heavy.
“You may not.” He stated firmly, giving me no time in between to form a retort.
“The tooth is an heirloom, once belonging to Dane Delmeare. A Lycan who fought alongside the guardians during the Tari wars. He kept it as a reminder of the lessons he was forced to learn while living in a time of war. This is historically one of our clans greatest honors and you are to wear it always as a symbol of who you are, where you come from, and the might of our bloodline.” I stared blankly for a moment as my father placed the tooth in my hand. The second the chain touched my skin I tossed it across the room as a reaction to a sudden stinging pain.
“Gods, what is that thing made of?” I whined, rubbing my hand in confusion.
“Tari infused silver, just- I need you to trust me Son. It is essential you wear it. Yes, it will irritate your skin, but this is part of the lesson.” He stated as I glanced from the tooth to him.
“What is the lesson? Crappy skin care?” I asked as he retrieved the tooth and placed it over my head, fastening the clasp. I winced in pain, my skin feeling like I’d touched poison Ivea. I was astounded by the chains ability to make my skin burn and itch. As a Terranian my skin is considered a flexible stone, solid like the grounds we Terranians bonded with, yet malleable enough to allow us a fair range of motion. Seconds after he placed it on and stepped back to assess me, I was already itching at where it rested on my collar. He laughed and patted my head.
“Okay wait, you said Lycan? So… This was his tooth? His actual tooth? Not the tooth of a beast that he felled with some mighty great sword?” I stammered, struggling to keep my jaw from dropping.
“Yes Danny. That’s his tooth, from his mouth.” He replied, looking a bit tired at this point. I had failed to notice before, but his energy had gone from heavy and intense to something more along the lines of exhaustion. Looking back down at the tooth hanging from my neck, I placed my palm below it. The tooth itself was the entire length of my hand.
“Look Father, I hate to ask this given how serious you appear to be, but are you pulling my leg? A Lycan? This tooth, really? This is all a bit hard to take in.” I said as I reached for the sphere. He pulled it away quickly and scowled at me.
“It’s all true. You are part of an incredibly unique lineage. Your blood is sought out for. Why do you think our clan stays within the trees? Why else live so secluded? Our people are as endangered as we are dangerous.” He said quietly, his reply making me feel like a boulder sat in the pit of my stomach.
“Dangerous?” I asked, scratching at the chain of my necklace.
“I’m sorry, Son. That’s a painful burden our family must bear.. Just make sure you always wear the necklace, okay? You must never allow yourself to go unchained-.” Father began to say as I cut him off.
“But Father, it hurts-.” I tried to say as his patience finally waned.
“Don’t interrupt me boy!” He roared, startling me into silence. “There is a fine line between that of a child and that of a man. If you wish to truly cross that line you must be aware of both your duties and your limits.”
“That’s what I’m saying, this burning… It’s over my limit.” I replied confidently. Father grabbed me by the shirt and lifted me slightly off my feet.
“I promise you in comparison to some of the things you have yet to experience, this?” He stated harshly, grabbing the tooth and hovering it in front of my eyes.
“This is nothing, Daniel.” As soon as his outburst had started, it had finished. Father lowered me back to ground level and relaxed his hand so the fabric of my shirt slipped through his fingers. “I’m sorry Danny, I can’t do this right now... I need more time. I will explain to you everything at dusk, during the hunt.” He whispered, shaking his head while turning to leave.
“Father?” I called out in a pleading tone.
“I said dusk.” Father insisted, hurrying out the door while mumbling to himself. I felt my teeth clench hard. He was never like that. What could possibly have had him so tense that he’d lash out at me like that? My entire life my father had made it his personal goal to educate me in the ways of the world. Why on Eden was he hiding something from me?
