The water dispenser is always the best place to meet new people

“You can control the veils.

I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s true, and they won’t let you know it until it’s too late for you to do anything with it. It’s an ingrained capability that we all have and can be brought out with training. It’s complicated, but I’ll write as many details here as I can.

The first step is”

“Poooole!”

I closed the notebook so quickly that I think I snapped a page off from it. I quickly hid it below my mattress and ran towards the door, to see what had happened now. At the entrance, Howard was waiting for me with a bucket in hand.

“How are you? Have you recuperated from last time?” he asked.

When Lyra and I returned from our trip after the veil dispersed we were received by a small group of people, armed to the teeth, waiting at the border of the village. We passed, and Lyra left me without saying anything else after leaving me in the infirmary.

What did you see? Did you notice anyone following you? Did they hurt you? Howard had thousands of questions and I had no answers to give. It took me hours to convince him that I was not lying… completely.
When I looked back, the strangest thing about the whole debacle wass that the person I saw was in a different direction than what attacked Lyra and me. That meant the shadow cloak guy had nothing to do with the sudden veil?

In either case, I told them I saw nothing, and eventually, they just told me to rest and they would handle everything else.

I noticed that after they left me in the infirmary, two men, armed with spears, stayed to guard the place where I was. I peeked through the door, and one of them saw me, but they didn’t tell me anything. The way they looked at me was enough to convince me to not go outside.

Until now.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” I said, a little apprehensive, as Howard’s eyes seemed to bore holes through me.

“That’s good to know, you see, we need a bit of help again. Most of everyone is scouting the forest, but we need someone to do the handiwork while they do so.” Howard said, with some shame in his voice.

I don’t like where this is going.

“I don’t know, what do you want me to do?” I said, even though I didn’t want to.

“Nothing dangerous of course. We already looked in the neighbouring area and there’s nothing to worry about. For now, we need to replenish some water. Do you remember the pond you visited with Lyra?” He finally said, raising a bucket he had hid behind himself.

Hell no, that’s even worse than I thought. Although…

“Really? There?” I said, not sure about what aspect of it all concerned me the most.

“It’s safe, don’t worry about it. But we are really short on manpower right now. Believe me, if it were up to me, I would not ask you this.” Howard said, apologetic, but in a way that now I found familiar.

I have a feeling why, and although it’s very unwise, my gut feeling spoke before my mind could stop it.

“I know, but you said the same thing last time and look at what happened.” I said, immediately regretting it, but he responded before I could backtrack.

“Yes, I know, and I fear this may become more and more common from now on. We have a lot of things to talk about, but right now, it may be best for you not to be here. I’ll explain it once I return, okay?”

“You are leaving?” Again, my gut spoke before my mind could stop myself.

“Not for long, but we do need all hands on deck in the forest, mine included. I’ll show you.” He finished, starting to walk away.

He, very quickly, in a rush, showed me where they stored the water. A series of pipes connected several recollectors of rainwater into a group of closed tanks. The tanks were connected to a faucet, and around there, several women and kids were wandering about.

The kids looked at me with honest curiosity, the kind of childlike wonder that seemed to transcend and be present even in a world like this.

The mothers on the other hand, seemed to be conflicted about having me around. In between whispers, they spoke between themselves while looking at me. I tried to ignore them, but the thing that stood out for me the most, was the fact that they seemed to be… sad, when talking about me.

When Howard left, I looked back. I could no longer see the women nor the kids, but the idea of what they thought of me when they saw me was now in my head and refused to budge. Did they fear me? Were they sad for me, or for themselves? Do they want me here, do they fear me? Do they want to sacrifice me?

Do they remember how I fell down the stairs the first day?

I started sprinting, probably faster than I should, through the forest, towards the pond. It was only a few minutes' trip, straight line, with a very marked path leading to it. When my thoughts finally cleared, I had already arrived.

I tentatively put the bucket in the water and then rose it. Almost immediately, it fell from my hands due to its weight.

This was going to be hard.

“You took too long to come here. I loathe those who make me wait, you know, little lamb?”

For the second time, it took all I had not to fall into the pond as someone spoke behind me. I had a gut feeling that this could happen, but the fact that it happened so quickly startled me.

“You scared the hell out of me.” I said, standing, stepping away, and grabbing my swiss knife without taking it out of my pocket. If they attacked me, I would immediately use it.

“It is easy to scare someone who is always skittish. You should deal with that, at least that way you’ll be able to hide that you are a wimp” The man in the shadow cloak said, with a mocking voice.

“What do you want from me?” I responded. I knew how risky it was to meet him here, but at the very least, I was gonna get everything I could out of it.

“Speaking like that to those who are above you could lead you to an early grave, even earlier than it already is.” He said, straightening out, his voice taking a deeper tone.

This might have been a mistake.

I thought that I should say something else, but as my mind blanked, I decided to follow the advice that I just received and said nothing.

“That’s more like it. Another piece of advice, spare a bit of that respect to the village chief when you meet her. Your life will be far easier if you do. Although seeing how you act, you probably would pass out of fear as soon as she directed a word at you” He continued, not changing his tone, starting to walk towards me.

He stood right in front of me. I thought of bringing out the knife, but the closer he got, the more his presence started causing me chills. I had no reason to think so, but a certainty had sprung in my head.

If I bring out my knife, I’ll die, and there’s nothing that I’ll be able to do about it.

“Now, I think it is courteous to present yourself when meeting someone for the first time, isn’t it, little one?” He said, a bit of his face now visible from below the hoodie of his black cloak. A crooked grin peeking out from it.

“Pole Rast… a pleasure to meet you?” I said, giving a slight nod, and trying to look the man in the eyes. I could not find them under the darkness.

“Ha, people in your world must have a very twisted sense of humor. Pole?” The man said, now starting to laugh.

I wanted to complain, but the oppressive feeling that I should not move still pervaded. The man continued.

“Well, Pole, I have some information that you’ll find very interesting. You see, I know that you have been in the care of Howard Thompton and the rest of the village and they are kind and all, but they are not actually looking out for your best interests.”

I completely froze on the spot when he said that. I opened my eyes in surprise and the man seemed to be pleased by it.

I was very surprised by it, of all things, I certainly didn’t expect to hear confirmation about the notebook claims. After all, that’s what he’s talking about, isn’t it?

“They are not?” I said, genuinely confused, but not for the reasons that he was probably thinking about.

“Yeah, unfortunately, they have some nefarious goals in mind. Everyone in that village has. I could tell you more, but there are some things that I can't say until I know that I can actually count on you.” The man said, acting sorry, but without any real weight into it.

It was a rehearsed speech, of that I was sure now.

“Let’s say, they are surely gonna take you as a work mule soon again, and then you’ll return here. When that happens, I’ll tell you whatever else you want to know. For now, be very wary of them, listen to their words carefully, and you’ll notice that something is amiss.” The man said, starting to walk away.

I could not allow it. He had said nothing. I had to know!

“Wait, no, tell me more!” I said, more loudly than I wanted.

The man turned around, he seemed to be furious. He looked around, and then at me again.

“If you talk to me like that again, that village will be the last of your problems. Believe me, I can make you experience levels of pain that are illegal in most worlds, and that’s without using my tools” The man said, bringing out a strange artifice from below his cape and pointing towards me.

I had no idea what it was, but by how he acted, I guessed it was some kind of gun. A moment later, he hid the artifice in his cape again.

“But for now, I’ll give you a little something. Be attentive to the strip of light in the sky. If you are still in the village by the time it comes down, it will be too late to help you and believe me, I don’t want to help you.” The man said, pointing at the sky.

I looked up. It was a lot closer, probably only days, maybe a few weeks away. He seemed satisfied by my looking up. The anger he had felt dissipated instantly.

“Smart boy, make sure to get out of the village by then. My advice? run in the opposite direction of the stream's mountain. If you manage to spend a couple of days without dying on the wilderness, you may find a new settlement. Although let me tell you, most of everywhere you go won’t speak the same language you do, so be ready for anything, little lamb”

The man said that animatedly, still rambling to himself, before turning around and walking away.

This time, I made no effort to stop him. Simply watching him mumble until he dissapeared back into the forest.