Hidden and Arrival

Chapter 19

Part 1 - Hidden

“Iris, can you go get us some water before we head out?” Dima asks me.

He is standing next to the carriage, and Lea and Zeek are pulling at his clothing. Everyone is packing up after spending the night next to the mountain path.

“I promised I would train with them,” Dima says with a sigh.

“Yes, you said we would do it yesterday!” Zeek complains.

I laugh at poor Dima. He seems to be a common target for children.

“Sure, I won’t be long. Good luck!” I tell him as I grab our water sacks.

“Mind if I come with?” Stella says, startling me as she walks up behind me.

I fumble with the water sacks, almost dropping them.

“Ugh. You scared me,” I say with my ears turning pink.

She chuckles and says:
“Sorry, I’ve been told I can be pretty terrifying.”

She grabs one of the sacks from my arms and starts walking away, and I follow.

We walk between the green mossy trees. As we go further south into Baiin territory, the air feels cooler. More and more greenery surrounds the mountainous terrain. Creatures sing in the sky, while smaller ones rattle in the yellow bushes.

“So, how much longer do you think it will take?” Stella turns her neck back to ask me.

It’s already been a week since we left Haoul. The children have become more childlike. Dima has been teaching them about our powers, as well as Astrid and Callum. We have spent many nights talking around the campfire. The Avi family we saved comes from a village down south. That’s where we are heading. They were taken when slavers attacked their village. Many apparently lost their lives fighting back. Eventually the slavers gave up as they were outnumbered, only taking a few with them.

“I don’t know, but it should be pretty soon,” I answer Stella.

“I just hope that we can make it there in time,” Stella says, turning her head away.

“Me too,” I say.

Who knows if Erich will come after us to seek vengeance? Every night we have kept watch, anxiety awaiting what could happen. During the day, we always keep moving. Finally, we know where to find others like us, people who could potentially know something about my powers. Unfortunately Astrid and Callum had never heard about any other Avi with powers like mine. It still remains a mystery. I wonder why Dima and Elda were able to do it.

At the small stream, Stella and I start filling the sacks. We are both crouched down next to the water. I constantly glimpse over to her, watching her small face. She always seems to smile. I wonder what she’s thinking about. She had told us a little about how she ended up imprisoned by the slavers. She was sold off because of her parents’ treason against the Mir king, but she didn’t say what that treason was. Apparently her brother was sent off by her parents to Estar territory. They were all supposed to follow but got caught, and her parents were executed. Her brother's mission is to rally with the Estar and with the Avi in their territory, convincing them to help end the Mir king's tyranny. We didn’t ask for her to explain further, she didn’t seem to want to talk about it. Still, I can’t help myself from being curious. She's had such a sad fate, so I can’t understand how she can still smile, and be so gentle with everything she does.

“What were your parents like?” I clear my throat and ask her.

She looks at me, seeming pleased that I asked.

“Hm. They were soft and kind, still very strict about manners,” she says.

“That makes sense,” I say.

“What do you mean?” she asks me.

“Just that, you seem very proper,” I say.

She really does. Every movement she makes is elegant, the way she speaks is clear and well worded.

“Proper, you say? Well then, how about this!” she says and splashes water onto my face.

With my eyes wide, I look at her and she laughs. My eyebrows are raised and my mouth open.

She laughs and says:
“You’re not going to do it back?”

I won’t. It was very cold.

With the carriage packed up and our supplies loaded, we are ready to set out for the day. Astrid is braiding Elda’s hair in the back, Lea is watching her. Elda makes a grimacing expression.

“You seem to be enjoying that,” Dima teases her from the front.

She just scowls back at him. Callum sits with his boys next to Astrid and Stella and me sit upfront.

“Everyone ready?” Heins looks back at us from the front seat next to Dima.

“All set,” Stella answers.

“When did you first realise that you had those powers, Iris?” Stella asks as she sits in front of me.

“Hm. Good question. I think it was when I first threw my spear. I was practicing,” I answer.

“Maybe it could give you some clues if you think back on it,” she says.

“Good point, you might be the reason Elda and I were able to do it, you know,” Dima adds from the front.

I’ve never thought of it that way. Still, no one we have met up to now knows anything about Avi being able to use this power. Maybe it has something to do with me being reborn into this world.

“We have an old lady in our village, she’s a bit… difficult, but she always told stories to us as children. Stories about battles between the territories, how the powerful Mir king waged war against the rest of the world. She might know something,” Callum tells me, with his boys clinging to his arms.

“I can’t wait to meet her,” I say and smile back.

“This is it! Just past this road!” Callum says, looking forward between Dima, who is steering, and Heins next to him.

All of us squeeze at the front to look ahead. Stella right next to me, her tiny shoulder pushing against mine. Over the steep rocky road, the curve starts to tilt over into the valley. In the open field, we see wooden houses with thatch roofing. Fields with yellow crops. Enclosures filled with furry horned animals. Trees and greenery surround the small village hidden in the mountains. Still, I can’t help but look at Stella’s excited face.

Part 2 - Arrival

Children hide behind their mothers, men gather on the road leading into the village. As we roll in, the first thing they see is the Baiin man flanked by two Avi. It’s only when they see that one of them is Callum, that their faces turn from worry to joyful. Stopping in front of the Avi men that had gathered, one walks through towards us as Callum jumps down.

“Brother?” the man asks in disbelief.

They look just like each other, both tall and slender and with kind small faces.

“Patrick, I’m back home,” Callum smiles and the two brothers embrace each other.

Everyone else gets off the carriage and we watch Astrid and the children reunite with the rest. Smiles upon everyone’s faces, happy tears filling their eyes. Friends get to see each other once more. Dima, Elda, Heins, Stella, and I, stand together and share in their relief. This is why I went through that hell, why I have blood on my hands.

We gather in the main hall at the back of the village. The building is larger than the other living cottages. A long room with thatch roofing, a larger hearth in the middle with smoke blowing out of the roof. The ground is packed with dirt, with a long hardwood table along the middle, and other round tables around. Avi villagers bring food from their homes, cheese and meat from their animals, and grainy bread made from their crops. Fresh water from the mountain stream, running past the village. We sit along the long table, with the eating and laughing Avi all around us. Dima is introduced to the rest of the village children, and so is Elda, but they seem to keep their distance from her. Stella speaks with Astrid and her girlfriends, they touch her white hair in envy. She doesn't seem bothered as she smiles and chats. I look down on the food in front of me. I should be hungry, but I don’t have an appetite…

Patrick stands from sitting next to his brother up front, holding his wooden cup.

“I want to say a few words for my brother's saviors!” he yells, making everyone settle down.

I look at him as he turns his cup towards us.

“These young ones put themselves in danger for my brother and her family. I can’t express my gratitude. I think I speak for everyone here, when I welcome you!” Patrick says with an earnest smile.

“How did you fight the slavers?” A child asks from next to Dima.

“Reva, don’t be rude!” his mother tells the child from across the table.

Everyone looks at us from across the room, their gazes filled with curiosity. My head warms, pressure builds in my chest.

“Well, we want to tell you, but it’s a long story. For now, let’s just say that, Iris here…” Dima starts to explain, but I interrupt him by standing up in frustration.

My heart pounds. I don’t understand my feelings. I just… I don't want them to know what I’ve done, with them all looking at me with such hopeful eyes. I don’t want them to see me as a monster. I storm out the hall.

“Iris,” Dima says as I leave the doors.

Stella stands and walks after, putting a hand on Dima's shoulder:
“I got it.”

I sit along the running stream, watching the fields behind it. The crops sway in the gentle breeze, with the majestic mountain tops in the background. I’m embarrassed for storming out like that. They did nothing wrong, I don’t know what got into me. I bury my face into my knees with my arms wrapped around my legs.

“Are you hiding?” Stella asks me.

I felt her approaching me, so this time I didn’t get surprised.

“I guess I am,” I answer, muffled from my arms.

She sighs and sits down next to me. We sit quietly. Eventually, I glimpse up at her just when she breaks the silence.

“You know—you remind me of my brother,” she says, looking ahead.

Her hair blows over her face from the wind. She gently brushes it behind her ear, exposing her green eyes. I pout, not the thing I wanted to hear.

“He is strong, perhaps too strong. Just like you, he doesn’t understand himself,” she tells me.

How could she know what I’m feeling? Not once did she question when I told them all about me coming from another world during our trip, any normal person would. She just gently smiled and accepted my story.

“He was so angry when my parents forced him to leave. He wanted to take on the king by himself, and probably would have if my parents didn’t convince him otherwise. I know how worried he is, how it was sadness that made him leave in anger,” she tells me, her smile fading.

The first time I’ve seen her show her sadness, it pains me, making my own troubles seem insignificant.

“Are you not—angry, I mean?” I ask her.

“I am, but I know that my true feelings are of sadness,” she tells me, looking into my eyes.

She has such a kind expression, filling my heart with warmth.

“I’m sad too,” I blurt out.

She just smiles at me.

“Then let’s be sad, together,” she tells me.