On the streets below the mountain, a lone figure moved along the stone paved roads, his hands unconsciously fidgeting with the beads of a blue bracelet. Kaehl’s mind was occupied by troubling news. Back at the warrior’s station, he had been informed that of the twenty exploration teams sent by the king, only two others had returned. Worse yet, less than a quarter of those groups had survived the return journey. The hope that the others would still return was small, but honestly the reality was grim.
Taking a right turn, he passed through a quieter section of the city. The road opened up to a residential area, here lavish courtyards with beautiful houses stood tall and proud. He soon reached a relatively spacious homestead. The purple hedge fencing in the compound, inside were three wooden buildings reinforced with curved stones and rocky foundation.
Taking a deep breath, Kaehl steeled himself and raised his hand, knocking twice at the gate. A guard peeked at him from within slits on the gate. His eyes widened to see Kaehl and he hurriedly pulled the gate open. “Sir Kaehl!” The guard crossed his arms across his chest, a sign of respect.
“Is the lady in?” Kaehl asked, his voice low as he entered the yard.
“Yes.” The guard said pulling back the gate close. “I will lead you to her.”
Kaehl silently followed the guard, the crunch of the ground beneath them and the twittering of birds were the only sounds accompanying them at the moment. He was led behind the homes where a flower garden pavilion was located.
Stepping onto the pavilion his sight was flooded by a rainbow of colors, blue, red, green, pink, there were flowers of all kinds. A warm, sweet fragrance drifted from the flowers filling up the air and for a moment he almost lost himself in the smell. The lady was seated on a bench her unfocused gaze blankly staring off at the distance. Her purple and blue floral dress made her seem to be part of the surrounding blooms.
As Kaehl moved into her line of sight, her eyes shifted, focusing on the figure in front of her. A slight ripple of emotion passed through her face before fading away. “Kaehl… ” her trembling voice came out low and raspy as she stood up, trying to appear dignified before him.
Kaehl remained silent, trying to come up with words of comfort but chose to give up. “Am sorry.” He said lowering his head.
Those words seemed to drain the woman’s strength, her legs buckled and she crumpled. Reacting quickly the guard stepped in and caught her before she hit the ground.
“He wanted me to give you this.” Eric said handing over the blue beaded bracelet, his leader had entrusted him to give it to her. Her eyes dull and lifeless fixed at the bracelet in Kaehl's palm, a similar bracelet on her own hand. She stretched her trembling hands reaching out for it, Kaehl placing the bracelet onto her open palm.
“He was a good man and a great leader, he tried his best despite the odds to save us. If not for him I would have died, I owe him my life.” Keahl said placing two of his hands on his chest just above his hearts.
“He said you were the sunshine in his heart, the one who brightened up his life.” When the lady heard this her memory flickered to a time when he first said words like that to her. It was in this very flower pavilion, she was laughing at him when he stood up his eyes glazed with love saying those words. Her breath stagnated becoming shallow, she tightened he grip on the bracelet moving it closer to her chest.
“Thank you… for delivering it back.” She let out a whisper.
…
Kaehl walked in a daze, no destination in mind just moving where the wind took him. He didn’t know how long he had walked for but he found himself standing on the rocky banks of the river. Bending, he observed his distorted reflection off a small puddle by his feet. ‘Was it my fault again? I just dodged and ran, I did nothing. I should have stood my ground and fought… ’ These thoughts clouded his mind as he remembered the times he had with his teammates, sadness welling up within him.
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He remembered the first time he joined the fifteenth legion. He was brought in by his parents and most of them laughed at his size. He thought they looked down at him but they didn’t. He remembered being helped during training. He remembered there fervor during the sparing matches. He remembered their smiles and laughter after a successful hunt. He remembered that he won’t see them again.
Finally he screamed at the top of his lungs venting off his frustration and sadness. He slowly fell onto his knees, this might sound crazy but the river seemed to be calling him. The raging white river roared just a short distance from him but amidst the roars he could make out his name. Getting up he slowly moved forward, closer to the river.
“Kaehl” This time he clearly heard the source of the sound, shifting his gaze up he saw his aunt at the other side of the river. She was breathing heavily clearly ran a long distance to reach him.
“Aunt Kihm.” Kaehl exclaimed leaping over hundred meters to the other side. His aunt gaze softened pulling him into his embrace. “Thank goodness you are alright. When I heard that you headed towards the river I became worried and rushed immediately.”
The aunt looked at Kaehl's dejected look, “It isn’t your fault.”
“You are a survivor” his aunt said, “Survivors keep the flames of their colleagues ablaze.”
“How can you do that if your flame is extinguished?” he said his voice low and heavy.
“Then you’ll need someone else to relight it for you.” She said pulling him to the fields, “Come on help me, I was still in the middle of harvesting tubers.”
“Don’t you just want to get free labor?” Kaehl said with a chuckle, forcing a smile, beneath the fa?ade, he could clearly feel the dark haze that had shrouded his mind lighten up a little.
Seeing his attempt at cheerfulness, his aunt smiled dragging him even faster.
The two made it to the fields, vast rectangular plots of land stretched for kilometers, divided by wide dirt paths. Rows of purple plants swayed gently in the soft breeze, their earthy scent mixing with the aroma of tilled earth. The soothing sound of running water softly sounded from the canals that watered the fields.
His aunt walked over to a wooden cart stationed along the path, retrieving a set of harvesting tools and a woven basket. The cart was already half filled with ajmag tubers, what his aunt had accomplished before running to him. Two six-limbed beasts, their hides a rich earthy brown color, stood tethered to the cart, their jaws rhythmically munching through discarded ajmag leaves.
Eric followed his aunt into the field, stepping onto the soft, sun-warmed soil. Bending he begun skillfully harvesting the tubers and tossing them to the bucket.
"Ajmag, the kingdom's staple food, grew as brown, spheroid swellings on the plant's roots, a critical component of nearly every meal. Harvesting these tubers required high degree of finesse. He skillfully excavated around the stem, tracing each root's path to its buried end. The key was controlled pressure, avoiding damage to the roots, this wasn’t usually a problem to normal people but as a warrior, he was never really meant to do this. With the ajmag removed, the stem was replanted, ensuring a future harvest in just another twenty days."
As they worked, familiar voices called out to him. Fellow farmers, men and women with hands worn from years of labor, approached with quiet condolences. Some offered solemn nods, others brief words of comfort. News of the fifth exploration team's fate had spread quickly. Their quiet expressions of sympathy, though well-intentioned, brought a fresh wave of grief, a reminder of the loss. Kaehl offered brief, strained thanks his focus returning to the task at hand.
Finally, the last batch of tubers was loaded onto the cart. Kaehl straightened, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. The physical exertion had brought him momentary respite from his thoughts.
“Feeling better?” his aunt asked.
“Yeah.” Kaehl said clasping his hands together in a gesture of thanks.
His aunt sat in front of the cart, the beasts perking up, “Remember not to stress yourself.” She said as she was hauled off to the city.
After leaving the fields Kaehl went to a stream and cleaned himself, feeling some weight off his shoulders he decided to go back to the city.
Before long he saw two acquaintances, Eric and Kevin. Waving his hands he attracted their attention as he walked towards them.
“Whoa, Kaehl you look like someone totally different,” Kevin said with an exaggerated surprise on his face, “I almost couldn’t recognize you.”
‘That’s Kaehl.’ Eric noted, his brow furrowed slightly. Honestly he had a hard time distinguishing the Ingans, they were practically indistinguishable to his eyes. Just a while ago he had referred to a female Ingan as a he and his good friend, Kevin translated it word to word, such embarrassment. The two genders had the same shape, the variation was in color, males being a darker shade. So without hearing their voice, he really couldn’t immediately know their gender.