Danais awoke to find himself in the tub being sponge-bathed by his cousin. There was a strange odour in the air, and he had a feeling it was his. After a lengthy and not so enjoyable scrub, he made his way to the kitchen and saw what he thought was Barton’s back leaving the room. Danais grabbed a bottle of his uncle’s home brew and sat at the table.
“I hear you took advantage of not one, but two magicians. You even sang to one of them, and I’ve got one of the best bottles of wine and also one of the best ciders in town on Ice.” Torak had no intention of punishing the boy, but he was still interested in his response.
“Well, I figured that if I was going to be immoral and break all known rules of etiquette, quality drink might soften you up some.”
“Ah, so the bottles are for me then?”
“Yes. Most certainly, uncle. However, if you feel inclined to share with me—but that’s entirely up to you, of course.”
Torak couldn’t help but laugh at that. The advantage of being a chronic over thinker is that Danais never failed to have something interesting to say—sometimes stupid, sometimes just plain witty genius, but always entertaining at the very least.
“Be more careful next time. You almost poisoned yourself by drink. I had Barton clean you—the smell was horrible.”
Danais never for a second thought he had drunk enough for alcohol poisoning. If Barton wasn’t with him, he could’ve become violently ill.
“The magician who overheard me singing has invited me to sing at a name day event. With pay.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“You know I don’t let you go to the city.”
Danais sighed. “I know. But you also told me that when the time came for me to go to the city, it would just present itself. It didn’t have anything to do with him knowing you. He genuinely wanted to invite me before I told him my relation to you.”
“And who is this magician in question you two are talking about?” his cousin asked as she stepped into the kitchen.
“Lord Vardon,” Danais responded.
“The Lord Vardon? The one rumoured to be related to Shalini, the greatest sorceress of all time? More powerful even than the Tyrant? She only fell due to some unknown spell she encountered during their duel. That was during the last direct attack on his forces by the Alliance. She actually got hit by a few multiple spells and just disappeared. Seems you’ve made good company,” his cousin responded, somewhat impressed.
“I know. The legends say she did much for the Alliance. Now that would be a magician worth meeting,” Danais said.
“Yes. The Vardons are rumoured to be part of the War of Beginning—the assassination of the king overthrown at the time. You know the legend about how one of his brothers conspired with the first Alliance to take him out and form the new world treaty,” Torak said.
“But that’s not true, is it, uncle?”
“There’s a level of truth in every rumour, Danais.”
“So is this a ‘yes, I can go?’”
His cousin and uncle laughed. No amount of talk was going to hinder his chance to finally set foot in the City of Light, the “God City.”
“Yes. I shall accompany you. Tomorrow we go to the market. I have to purchase you some material that’s suitable to be worn in the presence of the Vardons.”
“You’re coming,” Danais said. He was shocked.
“You’re only seventeen. I hear all his children are quite beautiful.”
“Are you accusing me of some flaw of character?” Danais tried to ask with anger, but his smile diminished his intent.
“I’ll rephrase. I’ve seen the way people pursue you. I can’t have you marry a Vardon and forget about me due to sudden wealth.”
“I see. So it’s not about coming with me into foreign land.”
“Nope. It’s all about me. I’m going to take you to see Lela as well. But neither of you can repeat that.” Danais had no words for this. Lela was a well-known seer, without question the best alive in all Salinor. Even the Tyrant himself respected her. This made him wonder; who was his uncle to know the Vardons and to see a seer of such magnitude on such short notice?
“We’ll sail across on the sixth day and should arrive just before the stars hit the sky.”
“So I won’t be working again til the second day.”
“No. Four days to yourself. I’m sure you won’t mind.”
“Not hardly. May I ask why it is that I’m going to see her?”
“I was told that when you were presented with a chance to go, I should take you to her. The seer works by premonitions. She may not even know why her visions come to her, but it pays to follow her words.”
“Okay. So this isn’t so much a chance meeting as a predestined one.”
This only raised more questions for Danais. Who was his uncle? He said goodbye to his cousin as she left for Chin to drink with friends. Then he headed out for a late night walk. Torak told him not to go too far, but Danais knew his uncle knew better. He enjoyed walking through the trees in the mountains, and looking up at the sky, stars and the moon. It made him feel at one with the world. This was where he allowed himself to let his fantasies run wild. He wasn’t unlike most peasants, dreaming he was the son of a god. He just had the added advantage of being named after one. Danais, God of the Moon and Water. Now that was a god to be the son of. His favourite rock to sit on was on the edge of a cliff that looked down onto fields of trees.
The province of Atorath was a distance above ground level, so they were partly up in the mountains. With so much open land, like in the ground level cities, it was often forgotten that there was quite a distance down.
As the crisp air hit his face, Danais allowed his fantasy of being on the ocean to flow even further through him. Soon the thought lost its way, and the cool breeze became a chill; he was Danais the orphan again. He sighed. How could he be born into such an amazing world without the means to enjoy it?
“To the two gods whose name I share, I pray, I plead: let this not be all that’s meant for me. Don’t let this seventh day be the last important day of my life.”
“You should be careful what you pray for.”
Danais jumped, completely unconcerned that jumping to high would mean falling to his doom. He’d been followed. Sometimes he wished he was even a smidgen gifted. He would’ve sensed being followed.
“Who’s there?” he asked as he edged closer to the trees. He’d rather have a fight in the cover of the forest he knew so well than be close enough to the cliff to be pushed off the edge. Just before entering the freedom of the trees, he heard the voice again.
“Over here on the rock.” Danais turned and there on the rock was something he thought he’d never see: one of the most magical creatures in all Salinor. And it was talking to him: a Kentai. They were as special as dragons and unicorns. They were good omens and sometimes had premonitions in their dreams. They, like dragons and unicorns, had a magic that wasn’t fully understood by magicians or even themselves.
Danais having never seen a Kentai other than in a photo took in its appearance. The creature stood about two feet tall with a face shaped like bear cub’s, circular ears and a nose like that of a rabbit. From the side on all fours, Danais noticed it had the profile of a fox cub with a longer tail. And though the Kentai’s limbs looked animal, they were structured in a way that seemed to transfer quite seamlessly to human function when standing. It moved its arms and legs almost exactly the same as a human. In fact, Danais at first thought this Kentai was quite human even though he was hard-pressed to find anything human about it physically.
This Kentai had beautiful chocolate-brown fur just long enough to move in the wind. Kentais rarely spoke to humans. Sometimes they were seen, but they didn’t talk to two-legged creatures. Good omen or not, he wasn’t ruling out the fact that it could only be talking to him to bring bad news.
“Come. Sit with me.” Burnt-orange eyes seemed to glow in the night and call him back to the rock, so Danais went to sit back on the rock beside it.
“You like the night?” the Kentai asked.
“The stars relax me—and the water, though I know not how to swim.”
“You’ll learn. You are named after the god of the sea.”
“Are you an answer to my prayer?”
“I just happened to be hunting in the area.”
Danais didn’t dare probe further.
“Why so depressed?” the Kentai asked. Danais revealed his story in a way he had never done before. His despair was at its worst, his hope at its peak, and his confusion—
“Just one big empty void.”
“One cannot be great without test and trial. There is more to you. There is more to the people around you.”
“Then why do I not know? Why do the people who do know, not tell me? Why am I a peasant?”
“What you are now is a prelude to what you will become. You were put in this place.”
“So you’re telling me I was forced to be poor. I’m getting answers! I’m demanding them!” Danais was mad, on his feet and ready to run back to the farm.
“You will do no such thing.” The Kentai didn’t even look up and spoke in a very neutral tone. The lack of obvious anger made it more threatening to Danais.
“Sit.”
Danais sat.
“Don’t be an impatient boy,” the Kentai cautioned.
“I am a man.”
“You are a child, and you will listen.” Danais didn’t know what to say to that. Legally, people were considered men and women at age sixteen, but he obviously hadn’t matured as much as he had hoped. This was evident by the fact that he was being spoken to like he was five.
“If it was meant for you to know, you would already know. You need to learn patience. Also, to be happy with who you are. You can’t appreciate what you will become if you see no value in what you already are.”
“You make me feel like a child,” Danais offered. “I haven’t travelled, don’t read that much. I haven’t done anything most young boys do as they travel into manhood. Will I ever be a real man?”
“Don’t doubt unless you have reason to.”
“Three fingers and a thumb. Same for feet.” Danais had been running his fingers over the Kentai’s.
“Yes. Five fingers are highly unnecessary.” Danais laughed as did the Kentai. “I believe you’ll mature much faster than you think. Your journey will begin at the drop of a stone.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Kale.”
“Like the green?”
“Yes and no.”
Kale took Danais’ hand and licked his palm, signifying they were friends; it also left a magical mark only other Kentais could see. He then took it a step further by joining himself to Danais, in a similar way to how Betaves join with Magicians. Kale’s eyes went from burnt orange to the same green as Danais’. He took on a feature from Danais that most appealed to him. Peasants didn’t join with a magical creature. Only Magicians. So this was special indeed.
“It is not safe out,” Kale stated. “There are roaming magicians and wild beasts. I will walk you back home.”
Once back in the room Kale hopped into the bed with Danais, who, on impulse, petted him the same as he would a regular household pet. Much to his surprise, Kale didn’t even seem to notice. If anything, he reacted much the way a pet would react to being petted. There was much Danais didn’t know, and he knew there was much he had to learn. Still, the gods finally seemed to have their eyes on him, and he was grateful—eternally grateful.
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