We don’t die until we actually die

  We made a curious procession as we walked along the road. Three, well groomed horse riders and three people in worn out clothes following behind on foot. I was probably the most curious, in my flannel pajamas. I had been wearing them for six weeks, only taking them off for the magical wash in Jena’s lair. Thinking about Jena and the lair made we a little bit sad. All that wasted time and potential. I had taken everything he said at face value and never once questioned or imagined I could have a different path. Now that was done, I needed a way to move forward. My major problem was that I didn’t have any information. I needed knowledge after all the old adage is true - knowledge is power.

  “Zuruvi and maNyoni,” I drew my companions’ attention in a quiet low voice, “why don’t you have classes like these warriors?” I asked to get myself out of my head. I have been thinking myself in circles. The road we were on seemed unending, winding through brown millet field after brown millet field. There was no one in sight. The only evidence that people were around somewhere, were the varies abandoned harvesting tools. It seemed everyone was harvesting the dried out millet. What were they doing with it? Surely they can’t be eating it.

  Zuruvi’s eye widened, “You mean you can see their classes and levels?”

  “Yes, don’t you?” That surprised me.

  “No, we don’t!” he whispered back at me. He was just as surprised at my answer as I was at his. “Few people do,” He said, side glancing at me and trying to keep his face facing ahead. It was obvious he was so terrified of the warriors and so was trying to pretend he wasn’t talking to me. I was sure the warriors didn’t care if we talked as long as we followed them.

  “Does that mean you have a class? What’s your class? You know what? I don’t want to know. I know too much already.” Zuruvi couldn’t help his curiosity.

  I was considering how to answer Zuruvi when maNyoni spoke in a very quiet voice that I almost missed it. “Why did you do it?” she asked.

  “Why did I do what?” I asked.

  “Save us.” She said sadly with tears glistening in her eyes. She was noticeably the most distressed of us. Zuruvi looked at his wife clearly pained with the emotional turmoil written on his wife face. He couldn’t do anything about it, not even reaching out to comfort her with his hands tied behind him. I could see it really bothered him deeply. They were a sweet couple and were making me miss John.

  I felt like the tears were a dirty trick. I knew they weren’t intentional, but I already felt guilty enough as it was. I looked in maNyoni’s direction and tried to express what I felt, “I did what I did because it’s mostly my fault that you are in this situation. Also, what else could I do in this situation?”

  “You don’t know us and you don’t owe us anything,” she sniffed. Even though her words were conveying gratitude, they were said in a way filled with self blame. This wasn’t about me, I realized. This was about their own failings and the hopelessness she felt.

  Zuruvi cleared his throat and confirmed what I was sensing, “If anything we owe you. If we had just let you go and not try and get the reward money maybe this wouldn’t have happened. We were greedy and look what our actions has brought us.” My heart went out to them. They were owning up to their own errors. These are good people indeed. I was beginning to like them couple, weird village and all. But their guilt was misplaced.

  “I don’t have to know someone or owe them anything to help them. It just human decency besides you were trying to help me when this happened.”

  “That’s one way to look at it,” said Zuruvi, ‘Not to sound ungrateful or anything, you have to know they are just going to keep us long enough for you to cooperate.” He said as he frowned at the solders leading us away. Even though it pained him, Zuruvi seemed resigned to his fate. I wondered if he was right. Was I just being naive. I didn’t think so. It was just not in my nature to give up.

  Zuruvi and maNyoni’s reactions made me wonder what their life experiences had been for them to give up so easily. They were parents, for crying out aloud. Since we had been captured they haven’t even once mentioned their children. If I was in their situation, I would be fighting tooth and nail to get back to my children. The irony of the situation hit. I was just like them. I had given up. Of course, I would think my situation was different but was it really that different? I had given up finding my way back to my family. I mentally kicked myself! I was tired of these realization without action. I needed a plan of action not to just think and think! Urgh!

  I could feel a headache coming on. Pressure was building up behind my eyes. I hoped it wasn't a migraine headache. I hadn’t had those in years and take days to heal. Jena had led me to believe that I was now immune to common illnesses because of my constitution. Either this was not a common headache or Jena lied. I didn’t know enough! I need information. I was getting frustrated with the situation and myself.

  I looked ahead and spoke to myself and as much as to Zuruvi and maNyoni with a firm voice. “Zuruvi and maNyoni, listen carefully. We don’t die until we actually die. As long as we are here there is a chance of us getting out of this. As long as there is a chance we don’t give up. We will find our way out. I will find my way to go back home.”

  Both Zuruvi and maNyoni seemed to sense my resolve and remained silent. I couldn’t tell if it was agreement or resignation. Either way, it didn’t matter. I had made up my mind. The headache was getting worse. By this time, it felt like someone was hitting behind my eyes with a hammer, making it hard to think. I tried to push through it and said, “ Right – information. Where do you think we are going? And why can’t I see your class and level?”

  “The first question is harder to answer but the second one is easy. You can’t see out classes because we don’t have any classes,” said Zuruvi.

  “You mean you haven’t acquired enough physical and mental attributes to gain a class? Is it very hard to gain a class?” I asked. I was really confused. If Hama was their youngest son, then they were older than I’d first thought. How come they still don’t have classes.

  “It doesn’t work like that. We are not sure how it works. It just happens randomly. Awakenings are so rare and they are mostly for the warrior class. Classes useful to normal people as a farmer or a merchant or a crafter was very rare. Don’t get me wrong warriors are useful and important. They protect us but who needs warriors on an empty stomach. Anyways, most of the warriors leave the villages for the big city guilds that offer better support, supplies and access to great rewards.” Zuruvi explained. The was totally different to what Jena had said to me.

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  MaNyoni joined in, with her quiet voice.“Some say if you keep doing a certain class work, sometimes the class awakens. For example, our family is a family of farmers. From our great grandfathers, we have been farming in the hope that someone will awaken.” My mind couldn't wrap around the idea of such dedication. Four generations, who simply keep going on, in the hope that at some point, fate would favor one of them. This was harsh. Why do it at all?

  “But why does it matter whether you have a class or not?”

  “Skills and buffs. If I plant a crop and a farmer class plants a crop, same time and same quality, his crop is always better than mine. A merchant class will get a better price for my goods than if I sell them myself. A blacksmith would make a better tool and so on.” That was so unbelievable! Here I had been thinking this system was amazing. It’s only amazing if you get a class. With class allocation so rare, I could see a whole lot of problems arising. I felt somewhat uncomfortable. Here I was, so sure that I will get a class without trying too hard and these people have been trying for generations. Do they even here the Ding. I was afraid to ask, instead I said, “I can see I how that can be a problem. How many awakened are there in your village?”

  Zuruvi took a beat to answer, “Sorry, we can’t tell you that. That's our village secret.” Everyone has secrets.

  I smiled through the haze of the pain in my head, “Fair.” I cast about for something to ask. I needed information but thinking was hard. Listening was helping me cut through the pain. I needed to keep them talking. “Do you know the warriors?” I asked.

  “No, they came with the Mage.” Said Zuruvi

  “You have a mage? In the village?” Now that could be a source of information I could mine once we get out of this.

  “No, the messenger from Ishe is a Mage.” Now that was interesting. By sending a mage, Ishe was showing his hand. He really wanted whoever come out of these woods. I felt a trickle of excitement despite myself. This mage might know something that would help me. Maybe they knew who summoned me, or they summoned me themselves.

  “If we are going to the village won’t we be safe?” I asked. When they didn’t say anything I clarified, “ What I mean is that at least you two would be safe. Surely, your fellow villagers won’t allow this mage to do whatever he wants to you, right?”

  Zuruvi looked at me, “ Look at us. Do you think we can fight a mage? Do you think a hundred of us can fight a mage?” He shook his head. Actually I disagreed with him, a 100 of him, with a well thought out plan, can defeat a mage. We saw the world differently. I was planning for just the three of us to win again the Mage and his warriors. Of course, in a one on one physical fight, we will be slaughtered. But there is such a thing as gorilla warfare. If you are out matched be sneaky. Of course right now, I couldn’t think my way into any sneaky plans because my headache was getting worse. It was getting harder and harder to walk and focus.

  “Also, we are not going to the village.” I heard Zuruvi say in my painful haze. “The mage would not soil himself by living in our village. They are camped far from the village by the river. The mage is a water mage. He likes water.” I thought water mage just meant they can manipulate water not that they needed to be near a body of water. We walked a few more moments in silence rounding a small mountain. I was trying to focus on my walking and not the splitting headache.

  The warriors stopped suddenly and waited until we reached them. Until now, they had seemed like they didn’t care about us as long as we were following. Two of the warriors moved behind us and the short one was leading the way. Were they expecting trouble? From whom? As we rounded the mountain, I almost stumbled in surprise.

  “Is that your village?” I asked wide eyed, slowing down. Finally, I thought, finally some magical land! In the distance was a great wall. A real wall! No matter how I squinted my eyes, I couldn’t focus to see the wall clearly because of my the headache. There more I tried to focused the more blared the distant wall looked.

  “Stop slacking off!” Shouted one of the guards, raising his horse whip. I flinched. “Yeah, that’s right. Move along.” He grinned when he saw me flinch.

  By the time the mage’s camp site came into view, my head was in a blinding constant pain and body felt so heavy . The camp site was well hidden in the dry trees. Just beyond, the sound of a rushing river could be heard. The mage might have used his affinity to water as an excuse but even I with a compromised mind, could see it was for security reasons. He could clearly see the village from here.

  “Ah, you are back, Mhazi!” Shouted a jovial man in flowing robes. A walking mage cliché down to the flowing white hair and parchment skin and a walking stick. “I see you have brought visitors! Why are they in bonds?” He tsked and waved his hands dramatically. “ Untie them!” He shouted. “This is no way to treat honored guests.” No one panicked or hurried to do his bidding. Ether this was a well planned charade or no one respected his authority.

  The solder who had threatened me, smacked as he walked towards us me. I tried to master offense but I couldn’t, my head was pounding and my vision was dimming. I was sure any moment now I might lose consciousness. What was wrong with me? It didn’t take him long to untie me. The moment I was free, it was like something popped in my head and the pain and pressure disappeared. Energy rushed into my body. My vision cleared and I blinked rapidly. The sensation as too much. I closed my eyes to get my bearings.

  Ding!

  You have experienced and endured a sustained mental attack.

  Plus 1 mental XP awarded.

  Do you want to assign your XP?

  I quickly assigned it to intelligence. I did a small mental jump of joy. We had been failing to raise any of my mental attributes and finally its happening. These bonds were mental attack bonds? That explains the headache.

  Ding!

  By finding a way to temporary save your companions you, Way-finder has gained 1 XP

  Way-finder

  level 1;

  2/10 XP

  Way_finder can level up? What does it even do? I needed time to think through this properly. For the past six weeks, I had basically let Jena tell me what to do and not understanding the system for myself. This was changing.

  “Are you okay ma’am?” The jovial man was saying to me. Right, I was a prisoner. I coughed to buy myself time. This situation was not at all what I was expecting. This men was pretending we weren’t prisoners. It’s friendly crazies that are most dangerous. They will cut you with a smile.

  “I am okay.” I croaked, cleared my throat and said more clearly, “Why am I here?”

  “Oh, you mean they didn’t tell you?” He looked suitably embarrassed. As if speaking to himself he said, “And they tied her to boot.” I knew I was meant to hear that. “I am sorry, u-u-uh,” He looked at me and gestures for me to say my name. Oh no, I wasn’t playing his games. If he wants my name, he will have to ask me and admit that his esteemed guest was unknown to him. An awkward silence followed.

  “Any ways,” he said looking flustered, patting his pockets. One would think he is looking for my name in his pockets. He was such a great actor!

  “As I was saying,” he continued, “I am truly sorry for what my men have done. Lets get you inside and dispense with introductions.” He led us inside a wide tent. Cushions were everywhere. “Someone bring us tea, please!” He shouted to nobody in particular. To call the space, we were in, a tent would be an understatement. It was more a receiving parlor in a great hall. I don’t why I was surprised a mage could do that, after all, I had Jena’s lair, which was practically a magical apartment.

  We all sat down cross-legged until the tea was served. The jovial men, looked at me with a genial smile and said, “So tell me, when did you arrive in our world and where were you this whole time?”

  He knew. Of course, he knew.

  Relief flared—bright and sudden—before dread swallowed it whole.