Kogen Village

I walked without having much to say from then on, listening occasionally to the murmurs between those at my sides and the conversation between Illose and Itelber just over my shoulders. They were speaking somewhat quietly, so the most I got from it was that they were trying to determine what someone in charge would want to do once we got to their village, presumably about me or the bullmodo, but since I didn’t really know the person they were talking about I couldn’t contribute to that conversation. I instead continued to focus on the ground in front of me, until my eyes were drawn up from it by a slight increase in the light. We had reached some kind of clearing, so a bit more of the maroon overcast was visible ahead.

When I looked up, trying to get a good view of the moon, I still found it harder to discern than one would expect against the pure black backdrop of the sky. There were no stars, so it was the only thing emitting light there, but it was nonetheless not that bright, at least compared to the moon I knew when it was full. Like the rest of the things around me, this moon seemed to simply glow from somewhere within, only incidentally providing some of that light to my surroundings.

Combined with glowing mosses on the roofs, and some similar materials lining other sparse structures, I could make out the outlines of tens of buildings much larger than I would have expected village houses to be. I could only barely make out that they were made of stone, and when I got a few steps closer to the outermost structure I could tell the stones were precisely cut on the edges where they met, but otherwise jagged and arranged in ways that felt organic. It felt almost as if the stones had been made by cutting lines through the wall where it stood, in branching patterns that left each in different, very large, shapes. Nearly every stone was larger than my body, some longer than I was tall. For some reason, I was more surprised by the houses than I had been by the talking birds.

Something about my expression must have given away my surprise, as Illose let out a chuckle.

“Did you expect to see nests, perhaps? I hear the merchants tell that joke often. I assure you, Kogen is a proper village.”

“No, I just... where did all these stones come from?”

“Ah, so that’s what surprised you?” It was Itelber who chuckled this time, and walked forward to put his hand on the wall of the nearest home. “There’s a lot you’re going to be curious about, I suppose, if so.”

“Did you make these houses with magic?” In my head, I could imagine Illose with a wand in her claws, single handedly hovering a rock above our heads and chiseling it to a perfect size before placing it gently on the foundation. The fact that she was a talking bird covered constantly in a layer of fire that did not burn her or me made it obvious that she, or at least someone in this world, should have magic. Similarly, Itelber had earlier mentioned the bullmodo being somehow useful for earth magic, so I was interested to learn how.

Contrary to my expectations, I was not responded to by Itelber with a nod, but a shrug.

“Maybe some of it was done that way, but I think that’d be far more expensive than the alternative. The stones were likely just made by hand. All the ones we’ve had to add in recent years were.”

“But the amount of work that’d take...” I’d seen more than a few documentaries about ancient civilizations, and the amount of effort that went into acquiring, shaping, and transporting the stones couldn’t be scoffed at, especially if they weren’t sourced nearby. I couldn’t say for sure that they weren’t, but this didn’t seem like a particularly stony area.

Wait, what is the level of technology here..?

I realized I really hadn’t seen much of this world yet, so for all I knew they could have had machines like cars and cranes. Even without technology, or magic, there could’ve been intelligent beings far larger than myself that could have relatively easily mined and shaped the stones, and equally tough animals capable of transporting them. That still would’ve involved a lot of effort, but...

They really can’t do it with magic?

“I can’t really speak to the effort it takes without it, but making entire houses with magic would almost certainly be much harder.” Itelber commented.

“I understand, I guess.” I didn’t, but I figured I would soon enough if I was stuck here for a while. This was likely another thing that seemed entirely obvious to them, and I felt a bit of tiredness hitting me as a hope of mine was doused.

“Do you know someone who can use magic on that scale, kid?” Byza asked as we continued to walk. I noticed soon afterward that the other 4 birds were starting to head off in other directions.

“No, I just thought one of you might be able to.”

“Ha! Hear that, Itelber? The kid thinks you’re some big-shot mage.” Byza’s croaky voice let out a laugh that to me was a bit unsettling, but I felt compelled to smile along with him a bit anyway.

“I was thinking of Illose, actually...”

“What?!” He yelled, “A night phoenix moving stones with magic? What a thought!” As he bellowed a bit longer, I committed to memory the name he’d given me, feeling a bit vindicated in my initial idea of what they were. Subsequently, I felt a bit guilty mentally referring to them as “birds,” but there was nothing I could do about that now. I’d have to ask them about things like that later.

Seemingly to escape the conversation, Itelber made a suggestion.

“I’ll go arrange a few moments with Drufyna, if the two of you wouldn’t mind keeping Danny company.”

“Certainly,” Illose commented, and Byza nodded.

As he walked ahead I, figuring I still had a bit of time anyway, decided to continue the conversation instead of letting it peter out into silence.

“So you can only control fire, then? Or..?”

“Yeah,” Byza answered, reclaiming his composure, “most of us have a knack for fire, at least, or we’d burn ourselves up. Likely nothing on the scale that you’re hoping for, though.”

“There are some of us who discover they have an affinity for the wind, as well.” Illose added, and Byza chimed back in.

“Ah, yeah, Zida’s that way.”

“Zida?” I wasn’t left to wonder about the name for long, as Illose’s suddenly cheery tone was quick to answer.

“My wife,” she said, “she has a rare talent for carrying messages on the wind, among other things.”

“She’ll scare you half to death if you’re not careful,” Byza warned me, though his tone was still jovial, “her ability is useful, alright, but hearing her whisper in your ear all of a sudden is...”

“Entirely necessary.”

“Yeah, yeah, anyway,” Byza continued, waving his wing, “you got any magic, kid?”

“I-” Just as soon as I opened my mouth, I closed it and felt compelled to tilt my head. “I, uh, don’t think so? Maybe?”

I rubbed one of my hands over my opposite arm feeling the new, freckle-like rough scales over them, recalling the strange feeling I’d been able to summon when I’d been testing the glow under my skin before. I still didn’t know for sure whether that feeling was related to the glow itself, or something else connected to it.

“Ah, it’s alright if you don’t wanna talk about it.” His tone was gentle, giving me an escape, but I shook my head.

“That’s not it, I really just don’t know.” I admitted, and took a moment to consider my options. I was in a world with magic, and it was already clear to me that I didn’t understand how such things worked here. Their advice could be invaluable, especially if the feeling accompanying that glow indicated I had some kind of magic I didn’t know about. “I could show you what I’m talking about, but I’m really not sure if it's magic.”

“Show us? If you’d like, we could take a look, but Itelber may be better qualified.” Illose argued, but Byza quickly moved to encourage me.

“Nah, even if we need to consult Itelber later there’s no harm in the kid showing us. Right? It’s not anything destructive, is it?”

“I don’t think so...” I responded, suddenly doubting myself.

When I’d made myself glow before nothing really happened, but I’d been entirely alone. I’d also still been near that tree.

The tree glowed with the same colors as I did, I realized, so maybe the strange feeling was related to that. If so...

What if I can only make myself glow near the tree? If I can still make myself glow, what if something different happens now that I’m away from it?

How am I connected to that tree, anyway?

My thoughts swirled for a while, and by the time a bit of sweat began to bead on my brow Byza had more encouraging words for me.

“You don’t gotta be that concerned. Whether or not you wanna show us, it’s up to you.”

“I’m sorry, I really don’t know what to say about it,” I admitted, letting out a long breath.

I needed answers sooner or later, didn’t I? And it wasn’t like anything happened when I messed with that glow before, so my thoughts of doom made little sense if I considered the evidence I had. Testing it out immediately may have seemed a bit reckless, but navigating back into the forest just to try and figure myself out also felt reckless. I knew those weren’t my only two options, though, so why take even a small risk?

“I really don’t know what’ll happen, so maybe we should wait.”

“If you think so, we can do that." Byza agreed, "we don't need to rush."

"We can see about helping you after we speak with Drufyna, then, or perhaps tomorrow." Illose suggested, "What's more important is determining how we can care for you for now, and Itelber should be back any minute to help that along."

Despite the fact that I already understood they were doing their best to help me, her comment reminding me of that made me suddenly uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry about the trouble...”

For some reason, from the moment they had encountered me they had been nothing but kind to me, and tolerated my inability to explain anything to them. They didn’t press me for answers, and they didn’t seem to care about who I might be.

Am I annoying them? They were doing something in the forest, and I interrupted that, didn’t I?

Illose brought me out of my thoughts quickly.

“There’s no need to apologize about that,” She assured me, and though her voice was still creaking I understood its gentleness. “I’m sure most anyone in Kogen would say the same, but it simply makes sense to me to help those I can. Especially lost younglings.”

Her warm words made me want to burst into tears, though I wasn’t totally sure why. There were too many factors to consider, too many things that could be causing me to want to break down here and now and take advantage of her kindness.

I can’t inconvenience her more by crying now.