Avarii- the Golden Child

by Mark A Herring

  I sigh as I see that I have finished my stew, and I think about my friend again, so regal and noble.... and here come the tears! I don't want any of these men to see me crying; I do what I can to hide it from them, especially now that its getting dark, but the man to my right hears me sniffling. I wipe my nose and turn away from his attention. In the fire light he tries to observe me closely, and seeing my trouble, puts a hand on my shoulder and gives me a gentle squeeze.

  He shouldn't have done that, because now I can't control myself! I start sobbing freely, and the man takes my finished bowl out of my hands, gives the bowl to another, then turns me towards him and he puts both arms around me.... like I used to do with Midnight.... and I cry on his shoulder. I cry, and I cry, and I cry.... and the man just holds me, gently, firmly. Whispering softly to me.

  I don't know how long I do it, just a few minutes, maybe. But when I finally run out of tears and I stop, I look around me, and I see each of the men with tears in their eyes, too. Then they look sheepishly at each other, and then look away to give me a little privacy as I collect myself.

  Do they understand why I was crying? I doubt it, but it was nice to see that they were moved by my demonstration of emotion just now.

  I wipe my eyes and nose, while the man on my right keeps a comforting hand on my shoulder.

  Then the old man, who is sitting to my immediate left, taps my knee with his hand. I look to him, then he takes his hand, places it over his chest, and says something.... his name?

  Sin— Sint— no, Seberkyne? That's your name, Seberkyne?

  Then each of the men, in turn, introduce themselves in the same manner; placing his hand over his chest and saying his name, too many for me to keep up with for now, and they end with the man to my right, who still has his hand on my shoulder, who's name is Dakanii.

  Then they all look expectantly to me, if I have a name. I look around to them, then I put my hand on my own chest like they did.

  “Sean.” I say, and it is the first time I actually hear it out loud, and it sounds strange to my own ears. I mean, I picked out the name long ago now, but I never had the opportunity to say it out loud before, certainly not to Midnight!

  That seemed to satisfy them, though, as they all leaned back with smiles on their faces, and each of them sounded out my name for themselves, I guess.... liking how it sounded?

  That's me; Sean, the panther boy of the jungle.

  Then the old man... Seberkyne...? gently speaks a few words to me after he said my name, with the index and middle fingers of his right hand extending towards me and slowly brings them closer to my forehead. I'm not sure what he is wanting to do, but I shrug my shoulders a little, giving him permission to touch me.

  Very gently, he touches my forehead, just under my headband, with his fingertips, closes his eyes and turns his face skyward. What is he—

  I suddenly see a flurry of images, memories, of me and Midnight: when we met, how he defended me, we played together, hunted together, slept by the fire together, shared meals together, he had me ride on his back during that terrible storm and sought shelter together, and that fateful day when we got separated during that cursed fog. The images stop back at my first memory of him, sitting so regal and majestic, gazing calmly at me with those golden eyes....

  Seberkyne brakes the contact by gently removing his fingers from my forehead....

  I feel dizzy all of a sudden, and Dakanii catches me before I would have fainted where I sat.

  I blink my eyes several times, regaining myself, and I see Dakanii looking down at me with concern, and I realize that he's holding the back of my head and helping me to sit up.

  I take a few deep breathes to settle myself, sit back up on my own, and I realize that Seberkyne is relating to everyone what he had seen....

  What did you do to me???

  Was I holding my breath during that.... whatever it was that just happened to me?

  And I see the men's reactions when they realize who and what my missing friend is; they look at me with shock and amazement that I hadn't been eaten by that creature long ago. The same expectation I had of Midnight too, when I first met him.

  I even see Seberkyne pointing up at the midnight shadow of the rings, now approaching, I suppose explaining to them my name for Midnight?

  When he finishes speaking, he turns to me, as they all do, and gives me a sad expression and nods his head to me, then pats my knee gently, reassuringly. Now do they understand?

  I find a couple of tears that found their way up to my eyes again, and I wipe them away as I'm not sure I want the continuing attention from this company after all.

  One of the men, Boga... something, takes out a pipe, fills the bowl and lights up. Seberkyne fusses at him sternly and waves the smoke away from me until the man moves away from the camp to finish his smoke.

  A couple of the men, the cook and the other fellow with them, ask Seberkyne questions, and the old man answers them with his deep, resonating voice. Are they discussing in greater detail the relationship I have with my friend, or are they discussing what should be done with me now? Take me with them? Will they force me to go with them? Against my will, thinking that they are doing me a favor? Helping this child.... this jungle boy that they found out in the wild? Or will they help me find my friend Midnight? Probably not, considering how terrified they were just at the mention of my friend; the large panther.

  If Seberkyne can read my mind, can he go back far enough to see where I came from, who I was? Why I found myself naked and alone in the forest and had to fend for myself? But, I don't know their speech, and I don't know how to convey to the old man what I want him to do.

  But I suppose that that very question was just asked by another of the men, because Seberkyne turns to me once more with his fingers at the ready, asking the question he had asked before.

  Dakanii resists his attempt, however, and chatters to the old man about how I had just fainted after that last time, and that I should rest before trying again.... at least, I only imagine that that is what they are saying.

  Then we bed down for the night, with Dakanii staying close to me protectively.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, everyone gets up and goes about securing everything from camp. Making sure the fire is out, nothing is being left behind....

  Does that mean me, too?

  I had put on my green kilt and boots and fastened everything, with my bags packed at my feet and my back leaning against the tree, as the men once again chatter among themselves and gesturing to me, deciding my fate for me. I wish I knew what they're saying, as it seems that a couple of the men are getting a little excited and starting to raise their voices. I think they are about to come to blows, when— not Seberkyne stopping them as I would have expected, but it is Dakanii that's now raising his voice over the others and commanding attention. This is the man that I had saved from the goblins with that sword throw, then he gave me my bowl of stew last night, then sat next to me as we all ate, and then comforted me when I had my emotional outburst, and warned Seberkyne about trying to read my memories so soon after the first time.

  The others fall silent, including Seberkyne, while Dakanii speaks softly, sternly looking at the others and nodding his head in my direction. Judging by their postures and body language, Dakanii is making a decision, and no one is about to argue with him.

  He is their leader? I thought Seberkyne was.... but what do I know of these people and their ways?

  Then Dakanii comes to me, and kneeling down to bring himself to my level, gently says my name (and the way he says my name, sounds exotic to me.... I don't know why, maybe it does to them, too) and asks a question, holding out his hand to me.

  So this is it.... they're not making me come with them. They're asking me to come with them, nicely. It's my decision.

  What do I do?

  What do I do?

  I look down as I puzzle it over, and my heart starts to pound as I understand what they are asking of me. Daka
nii shows much patience here as he continues to hold out his hand and waits for my answer. His hand starts to get cloudy to me as tears once again spring to my eyes, and I wipe my face with my arm.

  Do I go with them?

  Do I go on my own as I have been, and continue looking for Midnight?

  What do I do?!

  They have been so kind to me, returning what I did for them a couple of days ago. And they have been so impressed with me and my know-how of me taking care of myself.

  I don't know.

  I don't—

  ….

  I open my eyes, and I know that I put my hand in his. Dakanii did not grab my hand, I did it myself. As his fingers gently close over mine, I look to him with a tear-stained face, my lower lip quivering slightly.

  I had befriended a large panther.

  I had faced down a razor-grizzly and I took his claws as my trophy.

  I had learned to survive and provide for myself.

  I am a warrior!

  So why am I so scared now?

  He smiles at me kindly and runs his fingers through my hair with his other hand, says something to me in a gentle voice, then stands to his feet and turns to the other men.

  He announces my decision to the others, and they all seem to be fine with it.

  What were they about to fight each other about, then? I was thinking that maybe a couple of them didn't want any extra baggage (me) to go with them on their journey.... what else would they be doing out here? Or, were they about to fight over me, whether to force me to come with them, or let me choose for myself.

  But, it seems that everyone is happy that I will be traveling with them.

  So, everyone now comes to me, smiling and clapping a hand on my shoulder and vocally chattering at me in approval. Seberkyne is the last one to come to me, and looks down at me with that warm and knowing expression, and gently pats my shoulder, too.

  Ah.... is it that they found their muscle in me? The child warrior to protect them on their quest?

  I sigh and shake my head; its going to be a long trip....

  Chapter Thirteen

  They get the horses ready, two of which are riderless now, and one is presented to me, saddle and all. I have never ridden a horse before. The only time I rode on the back of anything was Midnight when it started pouring down raining.

  They hand me the reins of this beautiful light brown horse with..... blonde mane and tail?

  I observe as everyone else hops up on their respective mounts, and Dakanii stands by me and helps me get my bags stowed away on the back of the saddle. He also takes my sword off my back and shows me how to fasten it on my belt to easily draw it, and makes sure all my other weapons are arranged on the saddle and within easy reach, then puts my cloak on my back.

  Now, standing there by the horse they have given me to use, I look up to Dakanii, a little nervous about climbing up on the thing as it is a little larger than Midnight. He sees me a little hesitant about getting on, then he motions for me to turn around.

  I do, then he gently takes me by the waist and lifts me up and onto the saddle. Seeing that the stirrups are a bit too long for my little legs, he adjusts the straps on the stirrups to fit my boots on both sides, then he looks up to me and smiles, reassuring me the whole time.

  I guess the expression on my face is that of uncertainty, as I am not sure about any of this.

  Dakanii stops himself before he was about to hand me the reins to the horse, then I see by his expression that he gets a different idea. He holds up his hand to me; a signal for me to wait a moment. Keeping the reins, he leads my horse over to his, and I lean forward and grip my horse tightly by the neck. He then ties the reins to my horse to the back of the saddle on his horse, then mounts his horse and looks back at me.

  I guess he's going to lead my horse for a while.... until I get used to it?

  He smiles at me reassuringly again and signals everyone to move out, with us taking the lead, followed by Seberkyne, then the other three gentlemen with us, I can't remember their names yet.

  Holding onto the neck of my horse for dear life, I look behind us to the forest. I see Seberkyne riding behind me, and seeing me looking behind me, he smiles and nods in my direction. I'm not looking at him, but at the forest we're leaving behind, and I can feel the distance between me and Midnight widening.

  Don't cry, don't cry!

  I'm doing my best not to cry, but I can feel a couple of tears trying to sneak their way into my eyes. I look forward so no one notices my trouble again, and nonchalantly wipe my nose with my cloak, to hide the fact that I'm actually wiping away my tears instead. Maybe I shouldn't have looked back, as I'm having trouble to breathe normally, and my shoulders are wanting to shudder with the exertion of stifling my sobs.

  I clear my throat and look about me. I notice that we are not flying through the forest on the backs of these mounts, as Midnight and I had done that one time to get out of the pounding rain of that storm. We're just riding along at a slower pace, trotting along, with the horses snorting once in a while, clearing their noses of flying insects, I guess? I wave a few flying insects away from my face, having never really noticed them until now.

  After a while, I get used to the motions of this animal beneath me, and I start to sit up a little higher in my saddle, no longer needing a death-grip on the horse's neck, and I place my hands on the front of the saddle as a hand hold.

  This is nice! I smile for the first time in a long time, as I come to appreciate this beast of burden. I start to pet it on the neck and pat the sides. My horse seems to like that as I see him nodding his head once in a while when I do that.

  Dakanii looks back to me, and sees me finally relaxing in my saddle some, then he nods his head reassuringly to me again.

  When we stop to rest, maybe he'll give me some lessons about how to guide my horse? I see how the men around me are doing it; lightly holding the reins in one hand, gently guiding the horse one way or the other as we ride along the road, and prodding their horses with a gentle nudge with their boots if the horse slows down too much. I don't have to worry about that just yet, as Dakanii has the reins to my mount tied to the back of his saddle, and he controls his horse expertly down the road.

  We ride through a village that has another road going off to the north, and we continue on east along the road we're already on. I thought we would have stopped in the village, but no, we keep going. We all wave at the villagers as we pass by, and they smile and wave back, going about their businesses.

  At about midday we stop to rest and water the horses at a stream. Everyone gets down and shakes out their feet. Dakanii comes to me to help me off my horse, and after a few hours on the back of those creatures, I can see why they were shaking their feet; mine had fallen asleep on me!!

  I stumble around a bit to get my feet back under me, while Dakanii holds on to me to help me keep my balance. I look up to him and smile, then nod to him to let him know that I have this. He lets go, and I stand up fully, then walk to the stream to look around a bit.

  The horses are led to the stream to drink, and I suddenly feel guilty about not doing that. Dakanii leads my horse to the stream for me, and he notices my expression, and he shakes his head then nods in my direction, telling me not to worry about it, he's got me covered... I guess? I give him a small smile, and notice that the seventh horse, now riderless, has been relegated to carrying all the camping equipment these men need to make their camp.

  I grin wide now, thinking back to Midnight's expression when he saw all the junk I thought I needed to survive (and still have, by the way), and I see all the junk they think they need to survive as they traverse this wilderness on their journey...

  Midnight would have given up on these guys.... probably one of many reasons he avoids them in the first place.

  The horses resting, getting water and eating the grass and plants in the area, we settle down to rest, eating dried meat, fruit, biscuits or bread of some kind and enjoying ourselves. The men start to
converse with one another. Dakanii takes a parchment out of a leather sleeve and looks at it and looks to the surrounding areas, chattering away to the other men.

  Feeling a little left out of the conversation, I get my whetting stone out of my bag and check the sharpness of my knife to begin sharpening it, just to do something so I don't look so lost.

  Seberkyne sees me sharpening my blade, and watches and observes how expertly I'm using my whetting stone to get a keen edge on it.

  Getting a little self-conscious under his scrutiny, I wonder what he's thinking as he's watching me... of this child; this little boy, all alone out in the wild, having to fend for himself with no adults to watch over him. Having to learn to kill at his tender young age just to stay alive, whether for food or defense against a predator that would want him for food? And knows how to use weapons... rather well?

  Is that what you're thinking, Seberkyne? I stop sharpening my blade and look up to the old man, into his eyes, to see him gazing back at me—much in the way that Midnight did when we met. Will I ever stop thinking about my friend? Actually, I hope not!

  But I see Seberkyne smiling benignly to me with understanding, the wise old man. I give him a small smile, which makes him smile wider, as if I had rewarded him for his understanding, then I continue sharpening my knife.

  “Sean...?” Seberkyne says my name softly. Still, it sounds so exotic when they say it! Why is that?

  I look up to him again, and, after locking eyes with me for a moment, he holds up his hand— I'm afraid he's going to try and read my memories... I'm just not ready to go through that again. I start to lean back away from him, but he shakes his head to me.

  He carefully lowers his hand to the neck of my tunic, and I watch as he gently pulls out my claw necklace and lays it on top of my tunic. Then he looks at me and smiles, then taps the necklace and says a word. I glance down to my necklace, then look back up at him. He repeats the word and points to it.