Things You’ve Seen...

When Kiaan woke, he heard hammers pounding downstairs.

“I hope you’re not down here to complain about the noise,” Silvia said jokingly when Kiaan had made his way to the bottom of the steps.

Kiaan rubbed the back of his head and looked away. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare,” he said. “Just didn’t think you’d have workers here at the asscrack of dawn.”

“Can’t have a missing door at Sogros’ only inn,” Silvia replied matter-of-factly. “And thank you for last night.” Kiaan nodded quickly.

“Like you said, can’t have your inn missing a door,” he replied. Silvia looked at the carpenters working then brought her eyes back to Kiaan.

“How did you do that? Kick a man that size through a door?”

Kiaan blinked and shrugged. “Just caught him off-balance,” he said nonchalantly before walking past the working men and heading outside.

The town was alive this morning. Kiaan heard a man shouting orders on a large fishing boat on the lake. His crew members raised the nets and hundreds of fish squirmed and throttled their tails as they gasped for breath. The fish was separated with some of the larger fish being thrown into a pile and carried onto land while the remaining stayed on the boat as the captain shouted more orders. Kiaan took note and kept walking.

Shop owners hustled down the main road, carrying their goods back to their shops as they restocked their shelves. The smell of fresh bread drifted through the air and Kiaan could hear the sounds of drums and flutes playing further in town.

His curiosity piqued, Kiaan ventured into town, following his nose and snarling stomach to the source of the fresh bread. He made it to the bakery just in time to see the baker pull the tray of fresh loaves from the oven. Kiaan saw the fire and smoke billow from the pit and the baker carefully pull the bread out and set it on the table in front of him. Mere centimeters from his right, there was a large knife.

The little man looked up at Kiaan and to his surprise, the baker smiled. “Ah, you must be the hero that shooed those bandits away,” he said. Kiaan blinked. Had word spread through the entire town?

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a hero…”

The baker waved his hand. “Oh, nonsense,” he muttered. “Save the false humility for the women. Silvia said you sent them running and paid for the damages. A man that takes responsibility and charge like that is a damn hero in my eyes.”

Kiaan shook away the regret and sadness that tried to resurface in his mind and instead nodded his head and smiled. “Thank you, sir.” He looked over the newly set loaves and decided that he wanted some. His coin purse jingled in his hand as he pulled it out. “How much for two loaves?”

“Ten kālā,” the baker said, grinning. “But, for you, I’ll give you two for six.” Kiaan chuckled softly and pulled out two silver pieces.

“I appreciate your kindness and I’d like to donate some money to your business. It’s not much but hopefully, you can use it better than I could think to,” he said, placing the pieces in the man’s hand. He scooped a loaf of bread into a bag and took the other into his mouth.

It was as soft and flavorful as he had imagined it would be. In his fervor, he almost felt tearful. He continued chomping on the bread, passing fish and fruits markets where the owners raised their hands in solicitation. Kiaan was determined not to waste his money on visiting every food stand, especially if he had to travel any time soon. He had no idea when his research would require him to leave town.

Kiaan continued down the dirt path, eating his bread and observing the strangeness of this small town. The further he drew into Sogros, the louder the music got. A crowd had gathered in the square, encircled with enough space for a few people in the middle to dance. Kiaan peered over the top of the crowd best he could and saw a few people in what looked to be tribal wear. They were covered in glimmering silver and white paint and performed their moves in jumps. A young woman led them and wore the brightest colors with orange, yellow, and blue flowers that wrapped around her body.

Her dance covered the length of the space in the circle, gyrating to every beat of the drum with such expert motion that Kiaan was entranced. The flutes flowed like a breeze through the air before descending with the dancer as the song ended and she crumbled to the ground and a net dropped over the men around her.

Applause erupted amongst the crowd and Kiaan looked around. It suddenly connected to him that he had witnessed a celebration dance. Perhaps they were praising a god, or goddess from the young woman leading the dance, for their successful fishing.

After the applause had died down, the young woman in the center of the circle moved her hair behind her shoulders and sighed softly. Her sweaty skin glistened under the sun and Kiaan swallowed slowly as he took in how beautiful she was.

“By the grace of our goddess Elia, our fishermen have brought forth a great feast on the eve of Elia’s High Moon. Let us feast today into the next morrow in celebration!” she shouted before barking a cry that the crowd copied.

Kiaan smirked. The woman was certainly charismatic and to be so young, she seemed to hold a high level of power in this town. The dynamics here were interesting and Kiaan hadn’t done the best research before he decided to stop here. He watched as the young woman shook hands with those in the circle as they formed into a single file line and sought to speak to her and seemingly receive a blessing by touching her.

Sogros’ fishermen brought not only the funds into town by outsourcing their fish and product to the other towns away from water but they also fed the citizens. All of these transactions seemed to be governed by the young woman leading the dance and the various fish captain-merchants.

Religion and capitalism seemed to fit like a glove, Kiaan thought. He stepped in line with the crowd and continued moving forward to speak to the young shaman. He wanted to speak to her and discuss the dynamics of her town from politics to religion. He then wanted to see if she would be interested in seeing him more, but then he felt his heart sink and he stepped out of the line and walked back to the inn.

He had sworn to himself, never again, once he had left the Academy. Things hadn’t gone well before and they certainly wouldn’t now. Having saddened himself, Kiaan broke a piece of his remaining loaf off and ate as he walked.

He was already getting full and his brain was starting to work through the rest of the research that he needed to do. He’d start as soon as he—

“You there!” a voice called. Kiaan turned in mid-chew and saw that the shaman was looking directly at him. Kiaan finished his bite and gulped it down. The young woman tilted her head slightly. “You look familiar but I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

Kiaan blinked. “Uh, I just arrived here last night,” he replied.

The young shaman nodded. “Ah, you’re the so-called ‘hero’ that stood up to the bandits at the inn?”

“I suppose so,” Kiaan said nonchalantly. An implication like that made Kiaan’s skin crawl. The young woman nodded her head and began to walk towards him. When she was closer, she stopped and looked him up and down.

“You have the appearance of a hero but your Iké is disturbed and corrupted,” the shaman said, her voice matter-of-fact and even. Kiaan backed away but the shaman’s hand touch his cheek and she stared into his eyes. “There are times that are coming in your life where you will no longer be able to hide from, hero. I have seen it.”

Kiaan frowned. “You’ve seen it?”

“The gods have shown me.”

“The gods show many things to their ‘prophets’ who make them seem of great importance but they always end up being nothing more than ordinary occurrences. I don’t put faith in prophecies, only things that I’ve seen,” Kiaan said, his tone as equally as matter-of-fact as the shaman’s had been. Her hand fell from his cheek but she didn’t look angry. Instead, she stared more intently in his eyes then cocked her head to the side.

“With the things you’ve seen, the words of gods from a shaman’s mouth shouldn’t be too far-fetched,” she said. To that, Kiaan had no retort and the shaman turned on her heels and walked away.

Kiaan watched her go then took a bite of bread. He suddenly realized why he disliked religion. He walked back down the path and headed back to the inn. By the time he had returned, the front door had been reattached to the hinges. Silvia perked up as he entered and flashed a smile.

“It looks better than it did before,” she said excitedly.

“I’m glad it does,” Kiaan replied. “Hopefully it lasts this inn awhile.” After those words had passed his lips, he slipped upstairs to his room. For the next few hours, he combed the pages of the dissertation, backtracking and returning to the section on dimensional tears.

The things you’ve seen…

He replayed the shaman’s words in his head. Did she actually know what he had seen? How could she possibly know what he had been through?

She didn’t, Kiaan decided. Sleepily, he stared out of the window and saw that the Sun was starting to descend behind the trees and the sky had shifted to a tricolor mix of orange, blue, and purple.

Kiaan reached into his bag and pulled out the remaining bread. After downing the loaf, he sat cross-legged on his bed and meditated. After preparing the mind protection seal, he laid back in bed and closed his eyes.