Warrior, Slaved and Glow

Chapter 8
Part 1 - Warrior

“I’m telling you! The girl threw a stick at it and then got swatted away by its tail, haha!” one of the warriors laughs and tells the others.
It’s the warrior who had been with us when we fought the Krem. Apparently, he gets jolly when he’s drunk...

“I did not!” Elda yells as she tackles the warrior out of his chair.

All the other Danar that have gathered for the feast laugh and shout, cheering them on. Elda and the warrior scramble on the ground. Rayon stops the fight by lifting them both up over his shoulders, like kids.

“These Avi brought down the Krem for us, so let’s toast for them!” he declares.

“Cheers!” everybody yells, holding up their clay cups.

He walks away with the now sleeping warrior.

The siblings and I sit around a table. Drums and flutes play, trees glowing in the firelight. Everybody is enjoying the feast, food and drinks all around. Elda chews down on the meat, and so do we.

“I didn’t think that ugly thing would taste so good,” Dima says.

A Danar kid pinches his butt.
“Ow!” he yelps, spinning around.
The kid is offering him a drink.

“Thanks,” he says and takes it. They giggle and run away.

“Oh, someone's popular,” Elda teases him.
Dima scowls back.

“Iris, when are you teaching us how to do the glowing thing?” Elda turns to me.

“I can try, but I still don’t really understand it myself,” I answer.

“You should try,” Dima says, sipping his drink.

“We can’t keep relying on you, and… I want you to rely on us,” he continues, looking a bit embarrassed.

“I will, and I do,” I smile back.

“We'll smash some more Mir faces soon! Tomorrow then!” Elda says, raising her cup.

We toast.

I wake up with Rayon over me, it’s still dark.
“Let’s go,” he says…

Dima, Elda, and I dangle from a branch. I look down, the drop would mean plenty of broken bones.
Rayon stands above us and says:
“It seems like you need some stakes to be able to perform. I won’t help you if you fall, and you can only come up when I say so.”

“This is not really what I had in mind yesterday…” Dima says, struggling to hold on.

“Can you at least give us some hints, Iris?” Elda yells, trying to act like she's not out of breath.

“Yeah! Um… Try closing your eyes. Think about something that makes you mad and…feel the air and wood against your palms,” I try to teach them, even though I can’t do it myself.

An hour passes. Still grunting, quietly, we all struggle even more. But the atmosphere is denser, our concentration focused. Except mine, I can’t help but watch them. Both Elda and Dima have their eyes closed, they seem in pain, not only from holding on. They are thinking about something, I see the sadness in their expression. Especially Dima, I’ve never seen him look that serious, that pained. As I watch him, his muscles flex and veins pop out. The sad expression turns into a look of anger, clenching hard into the branch.

I wonder what’s on his mind.

“Time’s up!” Rayon says and pulls us up with tree-vines one by one. Lying on the thick branch, we all breathe heavily.

“My arms feel like they will fall off!” Elda groans.
“Mine too!” I say and chuckle.
Dima is quiet, sitting up and looking into the jungle. He seems zoned out.

“You okay Dima?” I ask him, worried.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine,” he answers, distracted.

Rayon interrupts:
“I can’t help you with this, I’m pretty sure the power Iris has is different from us Danar. You can only keep trying. What I can do is train those weak bodies of yours. Next, we spar. I'll give you ten minutes.”

Rayon jumps down the tree.

“Did he say ten minutes?” I ask the others in disbelief.

“Uah!” Elda screeches as she gets pulled up by her ankle, Rayon's vine dangles her upside down.

“Use your brain, you’re not fighting an animal this time!” Rayon scolds her.

Me and Dima are on our knees, battered from our earlier attempts to reach him.
I had a feeling that he was strong, but this is a different level. None of us can even get close. Just standing there with his arms crossed, he thwarts us away and slaps us around with the jungle around him. Roots trip us up, vines whip our faces, branches hit our stomachs.

“We can’t! It’s too fast!” Dima complains.

“Then you have to be faster! The Mirs wind manipulation is way quicker and deadlier than mine. You guys have been lucky fighting only outcast scum, you would have been screwed if you would have met a proper Mir warrior!” Rayon scolds us.

He's right—we’ve been lucky. If we’re this weak, we will end up dead or as slaves, it’s only a matter of time.

“Ah!” I scream as I move.

Rayon sends a vine toward my face, I dodge it by jumping forward and doing a barrel roll. Next, a root grabs my foot, pulling me down. I plant my other free foot down and pull myself out. My body is exhausted, but this is the closest I’ve got. If only I could punch his irritatingly calm face once…
I launch myself, landing in front of him. I throw my fist to his face.

“Raaah!” I roar.

Just as I’m about to hit, my vision goes up. A root pushes up from under my foot, setting me off balance. My wide swing flies past his non-flinching face. I see him grab my swinging arm and I go flying over him. Rayon slams me to the ground on the other side.

“Hhhkkhh,” I wheeze, hitting the ground.

“No, too much wasted movement! Everything you guys do is big; jump high, run wide, punch far. Fight for your anger, not with it. Enough for today, rest up and we continue tomorrow,” Rayon says, leaving us beaten.

“Tomorrow. I’ll punch his face in…” Elda says with a grumpy face, still hanging from the vine.

I look at Dima, still sitting on the ground.

Part 2 - Slaved

Three days have passed. I know that I asked for it, but Rayon is a rough teacher. Every day is the same. We hang from the branch and then get beaten badly by Rayon. For hours… We even started hanging twice a day now, one before sparring and one after. If our bodies didn’t heal so fast, there is no way we could have kept up. It seems like that is a trait we Avi share, as well as appetite. Every day Rayon feeds us massive meals, the one time he smiles and rewards us. It still bugs me, given his usual ferocity.

Dima has grown more distant. He doesn’t speak much; even when Elda teases him, he just shrugs it off.

Our training is done for the day. Again, we couldn’t even get close to Rayon. He keeps saying that we should move smarter, shift our weight and be compact. I think I’m getting the hang of it, but not good enough.

I walk up to Dima who is on the ground, and ask him:
“How do you twist your body like that when you punch?”

He has the best-looking form out of us three, so I figured he could teach me.

But he didn't answer, I think he didn’t even hear me. He’s just sitting there, breathing heavily and looking into the ground.

“Dima?” Elda asks, in a worried voice.

“What?” he suddenly answers, almost irritated and surprised.

“Are you okay? You seem… I mean you’ve been acting differently,” I ask him, worried.

He seems like something is weighing on his mind, always distracted by something. I want to be there for him.

“Yes, man! I’m fine, stop asking,” he says while getting up, annoyed.

“Is it about the glowing thing? It’s okay, we will be able to do it soon. I’m not even able to do it,” I try to encourage him.

I think that he is rushing himself, I want to let him know that we are in it together.
He turns around and looks at me, looking mad…

“Not even you, huh? But you can do it when it matters, can’t you?” he says with a hint of blame.

“What does that mean?” I ask, feeling attacked.

“You did it when you saved me and Elda right? Whatever… I’m going back,” he says, trying to leave.

Frustrated with him avoiding me, I don’t want to let him walk away.

“Wait Dima, tell me what you mean,” I say while grabbing his arm.

“Don’t touch me!” he yells, slapping my hand away.

“What’s your problem man?” I ask, now getting mad.

“Guys, stop!” Elda yells, looking more worried.

Dima goes up close to my face and says:

“Problem? The problem is that I can’t do it. If you can, why can’t I?” he asks me furiously.

“I don’t know, but it’s not my fault! Why does it matter?” I answer confused and irritated.

“Matter?” he says while getting even closer and madder.

“Yeah, why??” I answer while getting closer too.

His eyes are tearing up and his face is tense with anger. He pushes me and screams:
“Because if I could do it… our mother wouldn’t be dead!”

His anger turns into sadness, tears dropping from his eyes. I get a lump in my throat, my irritation turns sour.

“I couldn’t even save my sister—you did! And you ask me why it matters? That’s why, there, happy?”

He rubs his tears. Elda is watching us with a sad look.

“Dima… I’m sorry, I didn’t mea…” I try to apologize.

“It doesn’t matter, whatever. Just leave me alone,” he mutters, walking off.

“Dima, wait!” Elda yells after him.

“I’ll talk to him,” she says, putting her hand on my arm, then running after.

I stand there, and bite my lip in regret. How could I have been so insensitive? I didn’t consider what they might have gone through. Even carrying a similar pain.
Wiping my teary eyes, I say to myself:
“I’ll try talking to him again.”

Part 3 - Glow

Dinners are awkward; nobody speaks except Rayon, and sometimes Elda. Two more days have passed. I look down on my food, struggling to meet Dima's gaze. Wanting to talk to him, I struggle to find the words. Elda seems worried, she doesn’t speak much with Dima either. I don’t think their chat went great.
Rayon breaks the silence from the kitchen:
“Sight and smell like animals, as well as physical strength. The Avi is a primal race, they can attack if they feel threatened. Or so I was told. Before I met you guys.”

We all listen to Rayon, confused about what he’s getting at.

“I knew so little about the Avi, so did every other Danar. You’re the first ones I’ve ever seen. Who knew you would just be some afraid kids haha!” Rayon says, laughing.

“Hey!” Elda sulks.

“Sorry, but that’s what you look like to me,” Rayon says while cleaning up.

Sulking, knowing that he was right, I glimpse up at Dima. He is looking down on the table, rubbing it with his finger.

It’s the fifth day of training, our third session of hanging. We all are bruised and beaten, exhausted. Sweat drips down toward the long drop below.

Dima is struggling, his arms shaking.

“Come on Dima! Is that all you got?” Rayon yells at him.

His muscles tense, his face grimacing in pain.

“Ahh!” he screams in struggle, his eyes tightly shut.

Finally, his grip buries his fingers into the branch, his arms getting steady while the muscles grow—his markings start to emit light. I can feel the heat vibrate from next to him.
The first time I’ve properly seen it, it’s like the markings light up the air, turning it into heat.

It only lasts a couple seconds. As the light fades, I see Dima's body and face grow limp. Slowly he loses his grip. Snapping me out from being mesmerized, I scream:
“Dima!”

I grab his arm, only holding on with my other. I’m too tired, about to lose my hold. Rayon grabs me and pulls us up.

“Dima!” Elda yells and runs to him. She embraces him on the ground.
Dima sits back up, Elda not letting go.

“I’m fine… Elda, it’s okay,” Dima says exhaustedly.

I watch them.

“You did it…” I say in shock.

“Yeah…” Dima answers.

Elda is still holding on to him, I can’t see her face.

“I’m okay Elda, you can let go,” Dima says, trying to get her off.

He stops, when we hear her crying.
We all pause, listening to her sniffles.

“Elda… it’s…” Dima starts to say, but stops as his tears fall.

My eyes tear up with the sight of the siblings crying—my only friends in this world.

“I’m sorry, Dima…” I say, starting to cry.

“Me too,” Dima says, muffled from Elda's shoulder.

Elda looks up at me, with snot and tears all over. She nods at me, telling me to come to them.

I embrace them. We cling together, wailing.
Rayon is smiling, caressing our heads.