Chapter 13: Traditions

  “Do you not tire of eating the same thing after a while?” Zaire asked after their third day of travel.

  “What, you thought that life on the continent would be endless banquets?” Nanaua shot back angrily at their recent addition.

  “I just thought that food on the continent would be more varied.” He quickly replied, sounding defensive.

  “If it is not to your liking, then why don’t you go find some better food for us then?”

  There was not a single topic Zaire could bring up that he and Nanaua would not instantly bicker over. From the way they set up their camp for sleep, to the distance they should cover in a day, to the most arduous task a Dragon’s servant could carry out.

  Corin’s anger simmered. He looked at the food he had prepared. In all honesty, he himself had grown tired of eating the same food every day. The same meat with the same roots, seasoned the same way day after day. The only one who seemed enthusiastic about his cooking was Kaha.

  Corin turned to look at Ciana. She did not bother to look away from Kaha as she gave the wolf some of the food Corin had prepared while Nanaua and Zaire continued their verbal sparring match.

  “Perhaps Zaire is right, Ciana,” Corin replied, trying his best to ignore the two feuding individuals, and to stymie his registration. “Perhaps you can help me find some new ingredients to cook with.”

  “Hmm, I think that would be a lovely idea.” Ciana said while still attending to Kaha. “It would be a welcome change from the constant bickering we have been listening to lately.”

  Corin nodded and set aside his unfinished meal. His appetite was long gone.

  Corin, Ciana and Kaha got up and walked away. It was only when they were well outside of the camp that Zaire called out to them.

  “Where are you going?” Zaire asked indignantly.

  “You mentioned you are tired of the same food.” Corin replied. “I agree. Ciana is going to help me look for new ingredients.”

  “But what about the furtive army? The war!” Zaire shot up as he ran to Corin. Now he was face to face with him.

  “The war will have to wait,” Corin replied offhandedly, frustration rising. “We have been searching for clues of the furtive army now for several days, and we do not know where to go to find them. Searching for ingredients will not change that.”

  Zaire received the news with the same intensity as if Corin had smacked him across the face.

  “I can’t believe any of you!” Zaire shouted. “This is a war for the liberation of the furtives, and none of you treat it with the seriousness it deserves! I have been following you for three days, and we are nowhere near our objective! You do not know where we are going! I knew I should have gone off without your help!”

  “Fine, then leave!” Nanaua told him. “The Zifors can take care of you and your ceaseless complaints.”

  “You know what-” Zaire began.

  “Zaire, Nanaua, stop this at once!” Ciana yelled, raising her voice.

  Everyone in the camp quieted. No one had ever heard Ciana raise her voice. Even Kaha seemed taken aback.

  “Zaire, we are doing everything we can to find the furtive army.” Ciana began. “To accuse Corin and Nanaua of doing anything less than is dishonest! We all want the same thing. Nanaua!”

  Ciana turned to Nanaua.

  “You do not need to instigate an argument with Zaire over every single thing he says.” Ciana told her.

  Everyone listened quietly.

  “Now, Corin and I will look for other ingredients to cook with.” Cianna announced. “Can we trust that the two of you will be friendly while we are gone?”

  Zaire looked at Ciana and then Nanaua.

  “Fine, but if she says anything else, then I will leave!” Zaire began.

  “Well, if you-”

  “Nanaua, will you behave!?” Ciana asked.

  Nanaua stopped for a second and looked at Ciana.

  “Fine.”

  Zaire and Nanaua both sat down and continued eating without saying a word.

  Corin, Ciana, and Kaha left the now-quiet camp.

  Corin followed Ciana as she led them around. They were far west of Seingen now, in a completely foreign land to Corin. The trees, the mountains in the distance, even the animals looked different to Corin. The only thing that reminded him of Seingen and the surrounding areas was the absolute destruction they encountered every so often. Signs of what used to be furtive villages lay in ruins with no survivors to find.

  “Do you think Zaire is right?” Corin asked Ciana.

  “What?” Ciana replied. “That we should let him get himself killed?”

  “No. About us being lost.” He asked.

  Ciana stopped and looked around them.

  “Oh, about that.” She said as she admired the surrounding trees.

  “We are doing what we can in a difficult situation.” She continued. “The times we are in are unheard of. Even the trees are silent. We struggle to move around and search for this furtive army as if it is our only reason for being, but you all forget that to simply survive another day is a feat in itself.”

  Corin felt his frustration grow. He also grew tired of walking around with no clue of where the furtive army was.

  “That didn’t answer my question.”

  “You are correct. But it is because I cannot answer it. Are we lost? Surely we are. But we are not the only ones. I would say all manner of beings, including Titans, are currently lost. This wanton destruction is not within their nature. This is not the harmony that has existed for millennia Corin.”

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  “What!?” Corin shouted in frustration as his rage spilled out. “You cannot be serious! Titans are apathetic to all life! Have you not seen the ruins the Titans have left behind? The only reason they never bothered destroying us before was because they cared so little for our kind! But now that we have the means to fight back, they are forced to reckon with us.”

  Corin finished and panted.

  “I do not dispute your claim.” Ciana began. “Titans have destroyed carelessly, and sometimes purposefully, many furtives over millennia. It might seem cruel to us, but to Titans it was just the natural order of things. But now that order has been upset and everything is in disarray. What once was is no longer, and you, I and all other living things can feel it.”

  Corin listened to Ciana. He was quiet. His anger subsided.

  “So we are lost.”

  “Yes, we are.” Ciana calmly replied.

  She walked over to a tree and put her hand on it. She closed her eyes. Once she was done, she turned to Corin.

  “The inner bark of this tree seems to have a pleasant aroma. Perhaps you can use this to prepare food.” Ciana said as she walked away. She looked for more trees.

  Corin walked up to the tree and touched it. The exterior was hard and rugged. He grabbed onto a piece of the bark and ripped it from the tree. The scent was sweet. It reminded him of sweet bread that he would often eat when he visited Livia’s hometown.

  Corin held the bark close to him, and his thoughts wandered.

  Where are you, Livia? If I could just know anything about you right now. I just want to know if you are safe.

  “Corin.” Ciana spoke, and Corin was jolted from his thoughts.

  He turned to see the forest elf pointing to various sprouts shooting from the ground.

  “Alright, I’ll be there in a moment.” Corin grabbed several more pieces of the bark and moved over to where Ciana stood.

  “These seem to be very aromatic! And they are not poisonous.” Ciana said as she pointed to the sprouts.

  Corin kneeled and plucked them. He closed his eyes and smelled the aroma wafting from the sprouts. Kaha came up close to Corin and sniffed his hands.

  “Hmm.” He still had his eyes closed. “I think this would go very well with some fresh game. Don’t you think so?”

  Corin asked the wolf, who sniffed his hand and moved on.

  Ciana pointed him to other potential ingredients, and Kaha would follow along with Corin and sniff the various items.

  “Ah, here! Take some roots from this tree!” Ciana said excitedly. Kaha went up to the roots and quickly backed away. “This is the Wanuy tree. It is nutrient rich and forest elves always seek it out when in poor health.”

  Corin cut a piece of the root and dug it out. As he brought it up to his nose, he gagged and dropped it.

  “Corin! What is the matter?” Ciana asked.

  Corin dry-heaved as he scampered away from the root. All he could do was crawl as fast as he could away from the tree. He continued dry heaving as he crawled.

  “Corin!” Ciana asked as she ran next to him. “Are you hurt? Tell me what is the matter!”

  Corin stopped dry-heaving and began coughing heavily.

  “Are you hurt?” Ciana asked.

  He shook his head as he controlled his coughing.

  “What happened?” Ciana asked him.

  “That thing.” He said and paused. His mouth filled with saliva, and he had to spit. He took a deep breath.

  “That thing smells so bad.” He continued. “I have never smelled anything as terrible as that.”

  He kept spitting for a while as he caught his breath. All he could do was focus on not vomiting his food.

  “I think we’re done with picking ingredients.” Corin said catching his breath. “That terrible smell is still lingering.”

  He still hunched over as he tried to keep his composure.

  “I’m sorry, Corin,” Ciana added with a look of regret. “I did not know you would react so strongly to the Wanuy tree.”

  “It’s fine.” He replied as he spat and stood up, his eyes watery. “Let’s go back to the others.”

  Corin, Ciana and Kaha returned to the still silent camp. Neither Nanaua nor Zaire greeted them.

  “We found some ingredients!” Corin said and followed it up by spitting to the side.

  “What is with that?” Nanaua asked.

  “Yes, do we disgust you?” Zaire asked.

  “Well, at least you two agree now.” Corin replied while still spitting.

  “Corin!” Nanaua reacted.

  “It is my fault.” Ciana spoke up. “I told him he ought to take a root from the Wanuy tree. Apparently the smell was too strong, and it made him very nauseous.”

  “What an interesting name, Wanuy,” Zaire said. “Does that mean anything to the forest elves?”

  “Oh yes, it is actually a Gesherin word. It means the tree of death.” Ciana said out loud, then she reacted as if realizing something. “I see.”

  “Duly noted.” Corin added. “Next time, I ought to ask what certain words mean.”

  He spat once more.

  Nanaua looked at Ciana and then at Corin, who shook his head. She burst out laughing, and Zaire did his best to stifle his own laughter.

  The group, now in better spirits, called it a day.

  The night came and went with Corin waking up intermittently as his body tried to rid itself of all traces of the Wanuy root.

  Near morning, Corin awoke once more to find the camp still, save for Zaire. Corin saw Zaire kneeling down and holding a small object over a small fire. After enough time, he would tilt the object and pour liquid over the ground.

  Corin coughed loud enough for Zaire to hear him. Zaire looked over at Corin, smiled and continued along in his ritual. He would bring the small item to the fire and after some time pour some liquid on a patch of dirt while muttering words. The strange ritual Zaire undertook enthralled Corin.

  Corin looked to his side and saw Ciana, who did not seem to show any interest in what Zaire did as she pet Kaha.

  “Do you know what Zaire is doing?” Corin whispered, not wanting to distract him.

  “I assume it must be some sort of ritual dedicated to the beginning of the vernal season.” Ciana replied while she took a quick glance at Zaire.

  “A seasonal ritual?” Corin asked. He had heard of similar rites from other furtives. But he had not seen one in person before.

  “Yes. Today is the vernal equinox.” Ciana replied. “Now the day will last longer than the night. Many furtive tribes celebrate this day. Did your tribe not have these?”

  “No, we didn’t have seasonal celebrations.” Corin replied. “Trinixo does not experience different seasons, the climate is warm all year round.”

  “Really?” Ciana replied. “I always imagined the entire world would experience seasons.”

  “I always thought the entire world was warm all year round.” Corin replied as he laughed.

  Nanaua groggily woke up and looked at Zaire. He continued his chanting and the same rhythmic motion.

  “Did he finally lose his mind?” She asked.

  “He seems to be performing some sort of vernal ritual. At least that is what Ciana told me,” Corin replied.

  Nanaua looked at Zaire and then at the sky.

  “I didn’t even realize the equinox was upon us.” She said as she stood up and stretched.

  Nanaua walked over and grabbed her pike.

  “You’re going to practice right now?” Corin asked.

  “Nothing of the sort.” She replied.

  She dug a shallow hole and buried her pike in it.

  “What are you doing?” Corin asked, but Nanaua continued on with her activity.

  She tamped down on the dirt above the pike and stood on top of it. She closed her eyes and kneeled on the patch of dirt.

  With her eyes still closed she scooped up dirt off the ground and poured it over her head. She then bowed to the ground, whispering into it. She stayed bowed down for a long moment. Then she scraped the dirt off the pike. In the distance, Zaire stood up.

  Nanaua picked the pike out of the ground and dusted off all the dirt.

  “What was that?” Corin asked Nanaua as Zaire joined them.

  “An old Lord’s Protectorate tradition. The vernal equinox is associated with rebirth, the beginning of new life. This is the antithesis of what we do as Lord’s protectorates; it is expected that our weapons take life. But we understand the precious nature of life. So we ask the earth to take back the lives we have ended in the previous year and let them prosper in the world.”

  “What an interesting idea.” Corin replied, slightly confused. “But I have never seen you do it before.”

  “I am not accustomed to doing it in front of others.” She replied. “In Tonatiuh’s palace this tradition was akin to heresy. It was not a practice that was approved by our Lord. Nobody in the Protectorate knew how long the tradition had been ongoing, but it was a crucial aspect of being a Lord’s Protectorare under Tonatiuh, even if none of us knew why.”

  “How about you, Zaire?” Nanaua asked. “What were you doing?”

  “A man whom I consider my mentor taught me the ritual. It was as Ciana said, a vernal tradition.” Zaire replied.

  “Was he a priest like you?” Corin asked.

  “No, umm, well…” Zaire began but quickly found himself at a loss for words. “He had a different role at Telletioh’s court. He had been living at Telletioh’s court his whole life, born there, hir parents had been taken from the surface. His family had come from an agricultural background, and they had various traditions centered on harvest.”

  “So the one you were performing was one of them?” Corin asked him.

  “That’s right.” Zaire replied. “I remember the first time I ever saw him doing it. I was so confused as to why he would bother himself with such ideas. In Telletioh’s court, he is not in any agricultural position. But he told me he did it because it was the last trace of what he had before becoming a subject of the Titans.”

  Zaire spoke of the subject with an air Corin had not seen before. He could see Zaire felt vulnerable about sharing this in front of others.

  “Wise words.” Nanaua replied. “We are much more than just subjects of the Titans.”

  “And what exactly do you do during the ritual?” Corin asked him.

  “The ritual signifies the first offering of a seedling of the planting season.” Zaire replied. “You begin by putting a seedling on the ground and pouring melted ice on it. It’s meant to signify the transition from the cold and infertile ground to warm prosperous fields.”

  “That is very fascinating.” Corin replied. “To think that different furtives would have such similar traditions.”

  “Did you not have similar traditions?” Zaire asked.

  “We didn’t experience seasons in Trinixo, so our celebrations were not based on the beginning of a new season.” Corin replied. “But they were still focused on agriculture like yours, but we celebrated crop rotations.”

  “Rotating crops?” Zaire asked. “You have plants that rotate?”

  “No, that’s not what that means,” Corin replied, laughing. “Crop rotation is a practice we would have in Trinixo where we would alternate between growing different crops in the same plot of land after a set amount of time. It would help increase crop yield, when we rotated which crops to grow.”

  “Oh that makes more sense.” Zaire replied.

  “Yes, after a set amount of time, we would burn down all crops of a certain kind and plant new ones. The tradition was that before the crops were to be burned, we would get together and have a large gathering while harvesting the last of the crop. We would do this about once a year. It was a tradition that had been established long before I was born; my parents said their parents practiced it since they were children.” Corin finished.

  “Hmm, fascinating.” Zaire said, fully enthralled in Corin’s story. “How about you Ciana, is there anything of the sort for forest elves?”

  “We have traditions, but ours are not practiced on such a regular basis.” Ciana replied. “Ours are based on the various milestones of a forest elves’ life. Because of our long life spans, forest elves are only born every fifty years in our tribe.”

  “Every fifty years?” Corin replied, astounded.

  “Yes. And then we celebrate major milestones in their lives. When they become adults at fifty years, when they reach their first century, their first quarter of a millennium, and so on.”

  “So for you… which one was most recent?” Corin asked.

  “Corin!” Nanaua exclaimed.

  “Oh, right sorry.” He said. “You don’t need to answer.”

  “I don’t mind the question.” Ciana said. “It’s been close to a century since I celebrated my quarter millennium.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Zaire exclaimed.

  “Zaire!” Nanaua now reprimanded him.

  “Oh,” Zaire replied, looking around. “I’m sorry, I meant to say fascinating!”

  “I take no offense.” Ciana replied.

  “Through my many interactions with other furtives, I have learned how different forest elves are to furtives. Our life span is just one of these aspects.” Ciana spoke softly. Her mood darkened.

  “Yet you still have rituals like other furtives.” Corin chimed in, and he could see Ciana react. “You show hospitality to other furtives and shelter them when in need. And most importantly, you, like other furtives, understand what it is to fight for survival against Titans.”

  “Corin is right.” Nanaua added. “There might be differences across furtive races, but we have more in common than might be apparent.”

  Ciana smiled at Corin and Nanaua.

  “Thanks.”