I looked back towards Mommy as the elders ushered us forward into the trial grounds. My friends stepped ahead, each receiving a weapon from the elder. For the past year each of us has been taught how to fight with weapons and with hands. However, we didn’t have any experience truly wielding them. It was expected that by the time we left, we would have mastered all the foundational skills that would shape our future.
I could see the fear on Mommy’s face as the line slowly dwindled. I was the youngest of the chosen and would be the last to pick. It wasn’t just the elders who taught us to fight; Mommy shared with me every trick she prepared. My hand crept up to my amulet, silently reciting her rules.
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Never trust anyone. Everyone is an enemy if they see or hear you. My friends must be avoided.
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Disappear. Leave no traces for others and escape from the group as soon as I can. Learn to hide your trail because they will learn to hunt you.
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Find Mommy’s treasure. Mommy described a very specific ruin with a tree growing from the center. The ruin was on the outermost edge of the ruins. In that ruin I needed to dig in the stone circle that looks like a campfire.
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Stay away from the dead. They won’t stay dead.
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Stay away from the center. If there is nothing in the outskirts of the ruins, it is better for me to run from the trial grounds than risk the heart of the ruins. If I can run south along the beach. If I can escape to the human settlement, they may protect me from hunters.
As I finished reciting the rules, my turn finally came. The elder stood before me, presenting what weapons remained after the others chose. Various daggers fashioned from the teeth of monsters, a spear made from the heartwood of a great tree, and various other weapons, but the bows had all been taken.
“Elder, I wanted to have a bow like Mommy,” I asked him, hoping he might get one. Instead, he shoved me forward into trial grounds. I yelped in surprise as I fell over, cutting my hand on a sharp rock. Behind me I hear the Elder announce.
“All participants have chosen, and now we await their triumph. From this moment on none who return will be spared except if they return triumphant!”
“Mommy!” I shout back as a thicket divides us. I watch my friends look back in concern, but seeing me empty-handed, they quickly rush off. It hurts a bit, but I understand. Their, Mommy’s and Daddy’s had probably warned them against helping anyone who couldn’t defend themselves. I was already hurt from my fall, and I didn’t get a weapon. I would be dead weight in any group, so they left me.
I quietly repeated Mommy’s second rule. I’m a bit sad the others left me, but at least I didn’t need to find an excuse to leave. I bent over and picked up the sharp rock that cut my hand as an improvised weapon. The forest seemed to get darker and darker as I made my way forward. Soon the lighting was nearly indistinguishable from night, and just ahead I saw the ruins. Collapsed structures of petrified wood sprawling like countless tents in a gathering greater than any I could imagine.
I freeze as screams begin to echo out from the grounds ahead. I recognize Lasson screaming, and I almost run ahead to help him. I barely take a step before I stop myself. Rule 1: Never trust and avoid friends. Turning and running, I hide myself under a root. I cover my ears and try to stifle my tears as the screaming dies down. Eventually I try to move, but my limbs are shaking. I try to picture Mommy’s face and her voice to comfort myself.
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The sound of unbalanced footsteps stumbling down the path everyone followed to the ruins. A familiar voice calls out.
“Freema! Please, where are you? Everyone went crazy! I-I I don’t want to be alone!” Lasson’s voice called out, but I covered my mouth, silently pleading for him to leave. It wasn’t long until I was finally alone again. I shuffled down the path and soon saw the carnage. It made me feel sick, and I wanted to stop, but Mommy’s 4th rule echoed in the back of my head. I ran off into the ruins, fleeing from the scene.
Mommy said it was in a house with a tree on the outermost edge. I did my best to move quietly around the ruins. I couldn’t tell if it was late because the trees towering above blocked even the faintest spot of sunlight, and a lot of houses had trees growing out of them. Exhausted, I hauled myself into the next house and jammed my rock under the old door. I walked in and collapsed against the tree in the living room as sleep took me.
It wasn’t light or sound that woke me up but the discontent gurgling of my stomach. Getting up and adjusting back to the nightmare I was in, I almost wanted to complain to Mommy about not mentioning how to get food. I move to head out but stop as I notice in the corner a small pile of rocks abandoned in a loose circle over a corner where the floor gave way to dirt. My hunger was completely forgotten as I quickly scrambled over and began clawing away at the dirt. In almost no time I felt something cold and metallic in my hands.
A small golden-colored wooden ring on its edges had inscriptions in the old language, but only the elders actually knew how to read. I clutched the ring to my chest with tears of relief. This was the relic Mommy had prepared for me. She said she couldn’t remember what it did, and her journal described it as feeling dangerous and uncomfortable to carry but definitely a relic. I looked it over and gently touched it.
I felt none of what Mommy described; instead, a feeling of peace settled on me. The ring itself was much too big for my fingers. I curiously stuck my finger through it to compare, and the ring shrank! I tried to pull it off, but it clamped onto my skin. It didn’t feel tight, but nothing would make it come free. While I was struggling, a soft voice whispered to me.
“Child, well done; now flee before the witch of illusion finds us.” I’m not sure why, but I trusted the voice. Following its guidance, I fled from the ruins with a grace and speed I didn’t understand. As I passed the site where just the day before mangled bodies were strewn about, I saw only trails of blood leading into the ruins. Still, I didn’t slow as I came to the hedge where the elder had thrown me into the ruins. It parted, and a guard stood outside. However, the man’s flesh was rotten, but that didn’t stop him from bending down, looking at me with gaping sockets that held no eyes. His jaw moved as if speaking, but there was no voice. The ring spoke again.
“Show it the ring and say it won’t come off. Be brave, child, for I have shed the illusions that you could not pierce. Act as if nothing is wrong, and I will guide you.” I kept quiet as the dried-out husks draped in the garbs of the elders investigated. The ring guided the conversation, and eventually I was let go. The guard escorted me back to my tribe, which broke out into a mix of cheers and moans.
Shivers ran along my skin as I saw everyone. The elders were just like those who inspected the ring: dried-out husks that couldn't possibly be alive. The older someone was, the more their flesh had decayed, and finally I was embraced by Mommy. Her body was emaciated but still clinging to life. Finally I couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke down crying in Mommy’s arms. Why was everyone like this? I don’t want this!
Common Sense Education
Callia sat on a log with Callen. Across from them was a ‘review board’ of people they were close with, including Renack, Ela, Nixie, Reesia, and Crescent. Grandpa held up the next paper describing a hypothetical scenario.
“You find a cluster of Hive Shrooms forming in close proximity to the town. What do you do?” Callen bows his head over in thought while Callia chimes in.
“What do I have with me? Also, how close? Within threatening range for travelers, or is it within range of our patrols?” Grandpa has a look of concern on his face as he elaborates.
“You have anything you want, and I want to hear your answer to both scenarios.” After which Callia jumps into action, explaining how if it threatened travelers, it needed to be dealt with urgently, so if she had Callen’s helicopter, she could firebomb and shoot the cluster. If it was further away, it might be prudent to let Callen know since they would have more time to prepare. Callen, meanwhile, finally seems to settle on his answer.
“I would probably mention it to the mayor or Reesia when I have time, but I remember our carriage was attacked when we first got here, so it likely isn’t an overly urgent issue.”
Collectively the family facepalms as the two fail. Grandpa marks down the issue before moving on to the next scenario. With each passing response, Callia’s gung-ho attack plans and Callen’s passivity—letting others worry about it until it involves family—make Renack sigh in disgrace as he realizes that while he advocated caution, he never taught them what that means. Quietly, Renack accepts that he will need to mark off most of his morning classes in the near future to redo educating his grandkids.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.