The Boy Who Dreamt

What happens during the Last Birthday Ceremony? Lutho, the future Chief of his people ponders this question as he prepares for his death.

They say he was born on a special moment, when the wind and fog bloomed. Luna, hid her majesty as if she herself was going through the troubling cries of the mother giving birth. A tent fell over, and people had thought death might come to them. The brave hunter stood his ground and said that a child born under this sign would surely be born with the soul of the tempest.

The brave people had gathered sheding their fear for the miracle as loud lungs filled the air. The wisemen had gathered their witts and the old Speaker himself was present at the cries of a blessed boy. The Speaker put one hand on the child, the wise men agreed in unison, that something of great weight was given to them. Then the Speaker said his words, the child held the future on his whims. Under the light of the moon, it was said he had the power to choose their death or prosperity; the whims of a selfish child who cried for nourishment. The Speaker named him Lutho, translated to “Fire and Light”.

Lutho hated that story and he found it comical watching tears go into Speaker Kalli’s eyes when she would tell it. She would start small, high on composure, and by the end, the story transformed into a sermon. From the way she told the tale, he figured she was there at his birth but even to that point, nothing tear worthy about it. Maybe he should have been at his own birth, then he would understand why she dancing like a crazy person.

More than certainty though, she was trying to encourage pride in him, and turn it into something worth speaking about as her role as the spiritual guide of the tribe. He was remembering all the times she had told it before, and the times before then, and was wondering why of all times, she had to recount it now, on this moment of what they would call “dark” (night).

He wasn’t happy when he realized why she was telling this story. The campfire was reminding him of the fear he had coming into his heart. He would like to think he was the essence of the fire, without rival in power. Instead, he saw himself as the wood, destined to die under the weight of the flame as time was a factor. The wood was crying in pain. The fire was nothing more than destiny, a measurement of time. Sure he could add more wood, but the fire would conquer again and again.

He put his hands on his face and breathed hard. “Let it go, just let it go” he found himself mumbling to himself. To say he was looking forward to the mystical ritual was a lie. He saw it as his death. He wasn’t ready to die, he didn’t want to die, and he wasn’t ready to end his happiness, or what little was left after these long periods of mental training.

By now Speaker Kalli had stopped and noticed. He could tell because he felt a soft hand rest upon his. He looked through a small crack between his fingers. The field of vision gave him just one view, that of her smile, it was pleasant.

“All is well.”

He took down his hands from his face and looked at her. She was very plain for his taste. Boring, just like her stories. They were alone, save for two hunters who made sure that neither man nor beast bothered them in this ceremony, if it was indeed a traditional ceremony. The lack of anything special going on made him doubt that this was actually a ceremony and more some strange whim of The Speaker for reasons he could not understand.

Silence had come between them. The story over, nothing to say, and dying wood that would soon usher in his death at the hands of the rite of passage ceremony. He didn’t want to become a chief. He didn’t want his future to be destined to sitting on a chair and watching people wait to be told what to do.

The flame danced the vision of the tribal center fire, in which the Chief holds his address and council. He could almost see the faces of ghosts staring at him. Men, women of times past, old, young, dead and living. It was just a vision, but it was a weight he just couldn’t imagine tackling.

A close of the eyes, a breath, and he still couldn’t imagine even existing in any form a season from this moment. Would he just disappear and join the ghosts?

“What are you thinking my child?”

Lutho looked at Speaker Kalli, she seemed perplexed, like studying a foreign animal, gauging the reactions.

“I… I am thinking, I don’t feel like I am ready. I don’t want this. None of this. This moment, it seems to just tease all the more of what tomorrow may bring and I don’t think even for a moment that I want to be Chief. I look infront of me, and I can almost see an endless sea of people staring at me, waiting for me to command them, in their hearts, they hold shame should I fail them.”

“That is why I brought you here. I thought just maybe, tonight of nights, rather than trying to sleep it over, have nonsensical dreams of dread, that together, we can face these last moments. I remember, not long ago, I was where you were.”

He just gave her half a stare then asked, “So, where you scared?”

She smiled again, an almost brilliance that highlighted her plain features. He wanted to smile, but had to look away. It was the male in him, wanting to admire all the beauty in the world. She simply responded though after a clear careful choice of words, “Yes, I was scared. Terrified. I cannot recount the words that were racing through my mind. But, destiny calls us all, and this moment, is nothing more than a phase of that destiny.”

“So what happens at the ceremony? I heard some of the others talking about it with excitement that something special happens.”

“Young Lutho, what do you think of all the kids around you, who will also be having their Last Birthday tomorrow?”

The phrase, “last” and “birthday” hit a nerve in his heart. Last meant final, and due to the people in the tribe being remembered by which season they were born in, rather than the specific date, people of a time, shared the same birthday, the first day of the planned season. Come the sunrise, he would be as old as he would get.

Speaker Kalli could see Lutho retreating back into his mind. “The other kids, tell me about them.”

He returned from his thought and began to speak. “They are okay, I get along with them well, but there is this bizzare feeling that even when I am with them, I am not really with them. My dad tells me to integrate with my people. I listen to them and do this and that, but other than one or two people, I feel like I am from a different tribe.”

“So Lutho, you feel like an outsider? Like they exist in a different world built for them, and you are always inside, looking out?”

“And I fight that! I try to talk to them. I try to get to know them, but no matter how hard I try, at the end of the day, I feel different.”

She smiled again. Kalli clearly seemed to be staring off into space in the fire herself. Perhaps she too was able to meet such distractions as Lutho was.

“Speaker,” he called her very formally yet informally as he did not address her name, “what are you thinking as you stare into the fire?”

“I am just seeing things, the past. I see a flame from that small twig, that cannot dance with the rest. Although her not being allowed to dance is for different reasons, she too is ultimately of her own tribe. I never had friends in this world, except for you and the wisemen.”

Lutho never heard her refer to him as a friend before. The notion really came out of nowhere. Why was he such a friend? He never liked spending so much time with her, or atleast that was what he told himself. He redirected his shift to the lone flame on the twig. It died, the wood was dried up. It died alone.

The tribe was set up with a cast system where the hunters would make up the general populace. They were the common numbers. Above them was the Wisemen, numbered to the exact item, they provided council to the Chief, who ruled above all. To his right, would forever be the Speaker.

However, Lutho remembered the days of his father, who would sit beside the old Speaker, and the two of them seemed to talk often endlessly until Dark came. Speaker Kalli never did that, when she would look upon the Chief, while her voice would be confident, and she could be one of the few people who would dare look upon him in the eye, when it came to the daily matters of nonsensical value, she would look down, and not speak, like a child afraid to talk infront of an adult.

He was not his father, and he thought Kalli knew this. She never smiled in front of his dad, not completely, outside the occasional festive moments. She had a bizzare laugh. Never before had he comprehended the thought, she was just like him. An outsider, forever forced into the circles she was born with. Was this his fate? As boring as she would be though, she always showed a slight openness, and in contrast to how she acted around the others, he was glad for it.

“What will happen when the Wisemen figure out that I am not so wise?” The question came out of nowhere, but he was just a child, his dad and mom often taught him things, so did Speaker Kalli, how could he hold his own against those who were trained to be sages of the tribe?

“That’s right. Two new wisemen will be coming of age tomorrow.” Kalli smiled, “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. You are a smarter person than I ever was. You will be great.”

“What about the prophecy? What about my namesake? How can you say I am smart, or wise when I have been stumbling for this long?” Lutho almost looked like he wanted to cry, but in reality it was his way of channeling his anger, it just caused his face to go in a strange pout formation.

“Sho and Morn, the two wisemen in training, they are your friends? No?”

Lutho looked off to the side of the fire, “They are the only people I trust. Yes. We are friends.”

“I am glad. They too must be thinking the same thing you are. I believe firmly that although Sho hides it well, he is perhaps more scared than you. I was called in the other night to provide him advice about the last birth day.”

“And what did you tell him?”

Kalli had a smile on her face, although the one of the conversation was serious, she let the smile speak for itself. “’All will be well.’ He didn’t believe me. Sho was terrified that no one in the entire village, despite all his asking would tell him what exactly happens at the rights of passage for the Last Birthday.”

He had never known Sho to be the terrified type. If he wasn’t trained to be a wiseman, he would have been a great hunter. The others looked up to him for his courage. Speaker Kalli seemed to have read his mind and added to her previous statement, “To be scared of the unknown is wise, but its courage that makes a person jump through.”

“Which is better? Should I be cautious and wise? Or should I be brave and run head first?”

“Who says you have to pick one?” She laughed a bit. Lutho didn’t know how to handle that.

“So then, it is better I be both?”

Speaker Kalli put her hand on the top of his head and frizzled with his hair to shake it up for fun, “You are perfect the way you are. Trust your instinct, I am sure that it will guide you as much as your head.” Lutho fought her hand off for a second then exhaled.

“I am perfect, am I?”

“No, not really.” Another laugh, “ But who wants to be perfect? As a self, you are all that you need to be able enough to conquer any adversity, and I am certain, that you strong enough to make it through the rights of passage ceremony tomorrow. If I didn’t think so, I would tell you.”

Did she leave an opening? He wasn’t sure but he figured now was as good of a time as any to ask, “So what is it? What is the rights of passage ceremony that the adults keep silent about? Why is there such a secret about it? What was it like for you?”

It was memorable. That was how she described it. The sound of the outside world had died, and he didn’t know what to make of it. He tried his best to decrypt that statement, over and over, again and again he ran it in his head. Chief in Training Lutho didn’t realize  that he had begun walking down a trail that oversaw the mountains. Speaker Kalli was on his side talking.

Words were coming out of both of their lips, but the present mind failed to really understand just what was going on. He had no idea where they were going, although he could figure it out if he really tried to put it together, but his mind was on other things.

The more he walked, the more internal his own mind was going. And then, as a cold breeze reached his face, the sky briefly changed color. She had stopped and they were on top of the mountain. A strange color sensation was moving into mental form as Lutho’s mind began to have a change. He could do this. He would conquer and there was no reason to fear. Below was his town. His town, it would belong to him, filled with his people.

As a ray of light reflected off his arm, Lutho put out his hand and place it over the village. “I can feel the fire within. I can feel the light.” He said this to no one, but from this vantage, under the purple sky, he felt a festive dance within.

He turned his head, The Speaker was not paying attention to him, for a small rabbit had come to her foot. Instantly she began talking to it, fed it some left over berries, and bent down to it’s level. She was always so kin to the animals around her, it almost scared him. He used to think she was crazy, but he later came to the thought that as a Speaker, it was her job to attempt to be one with nature.

“It is just a rabbit. What is so special about it?”

She smiled, “Is it?”

Random doubt entered Lutho’s mind. “Is it?” She rubbed its head, much like she did with Lutho and it then ran off. “I guess it doesn’t like it as much as I do either.” Lutho let himself chuckle. He watched the fluff tail jump into the clearing and disappear with the rest of it. The sides of his forhead were whipped by the tips of his hair and he let himself indulge in the painful yet serene breeze in this all too perfect moment until he could no longer last.

“I am ready Speaker Kalli.”

“Good. I will walk you home, and you can get some nice sleep. When you awake, your Journey begins.”

A dream before a dream, the irony was sweet. Lutho allowed his thoughts to be that of a vision, filled with color and substance. He could feel the trees, he could feel the ground, and he realized that the ground was shifting beneath his feet.

He fell to his knees to brace himself for fear of disappearing beneath the substance to what would be nothing, but the hands that reached the floor were not his own. His eyes twitched down, then slowly opened, the horror not sinking in until after this delayed reaction was complete. There was hair on his hands! Not human, no more like that of a beast. It was so thick that he wasn’t sure that fingers were underneath.

He screamed so loud, he didn’t even know where the energy came from. The vocal pitch was more of a wail asking for nature to come to his aid. The sand stopped. It had listened to him. Now before him were his people, the villagers of his tribe, his fellow speakers.

They looked at him with nothing but complete fear. The prophecy had come true, he was fire. The hunters of his tribe gathered, but instantly were drawn into the sand that would not listen to their cries. Lutho spoke, and the words made sense to him, but the people could not understand his strange dialect. The strange creature that was once the destined chief of the tribe had caused massive panic.

The people looked to him and soon hunters came, their weapons ready to fight. “I am not your enemy” he said. But they ran at the mere utterance of his words. More were coming, and these people knew this would be to their death, but they would take the accursed Lutho with them.

This was all wrong. Lutho didn’t mean harm. Only once had he betrayed his fellow brethren, and that was his life’s biggest regret. Then a figure came out, he didn’t stand out from the rest except for a strange gap in his teeth. Lutho wouldn’t have noticed a figure until a voice rang out like an otherworldy horror.

“That is him.” The voice said, “that is the one that killed my brother.”

The monsterous form of Lutho looked at the figure hard. The gaze met gaze and the soul revealed the truth. The man committed murder. He had killed a brethren of Lutho. This made him shake with uncontrollable anger. He wouldn’t let the hunter get away. The brethren cried for blood and Lutho felt that it was his duty to dispense justice.

All others disappeared in that moment as the drool dripped from Lutho’s fangs. “Do you know what you have done!?” Lutho screamed, but the hunter looked unrepentant.

In that moment of blood rage, wolves started to take over the town, the people fled in fear, and the hunter, brave and unrepentant as he was, stood by as carnage surrounded him. Was this courage? A noble act? Or did the hunter not know his crime?

“Kill him, repay the debt.”

That was all the voice said and Lutho, turning human, screamed “NO!”

His last birthday had begun.

The real world shook as Chief in Training Lutho woke to his place of slumber. The Chief’s mansion had been deserted. Infront of him was some strange tribal outfit he had never seen before.

“Do I have to wear that?”

She came in the room, “Yes you do, I made it myself.”

He was expecting the Speaker to come into his room, but unfortunately it was the one person who was even more ackward than her, his mother. She had a flash of brilliance in her smile. This was clearly the best moment in her life and he felt a shudder. It was a face he had seen before, and before that time too. She used to have it when she would often tell misadventures of him that were way to personal and the other tribe members had no reason to know this kind of information.

And now, in what was to be his last moments on this life, he was going to wear a lavish outfit that made him feel like a selfish and uncaring snob. The outfit was garbed with vivid imagery, taken into its colorfull beads. The arrangement of colors, such as blue, next to red, was symbolic of his life as well as the story of his ancestors. The lower sides of the tunic were that of a high end tribal ceremony that even the normal class tribe members were never allowed to don.

It wasn’t that he felt unworthy of such honors into his outfit, it was that it disgusted him that this was all due to his birth. But she had that look on her face, he was clearly Sol’s gift to her, and he couldn’t bare it. He asked her to leave the room to put it on, now realizing how powerless he was over his life.

He felt the burden he had to carry. Now he remembered, he had seen this suit once before, it was in pictures of the first chief of his tribe. While the logical part of him realized this was probably just ceremonial, he felt weight stronger than him. Lutho looked to the wall and said, “These people…make me sick.” His mother would be coming in any moment.

Lutho began his transformation. Ever since he was young as he could remember, Lutho developed a skill that he used to survive the insane conditions that were given to him by being the Chief’s son. It allowed him to adapt to any given situation and all the while being able to please almost anyone and everyone in a given situation.

The Chief’s son, knew the suffering of the hungry, he was polite and smart when infront of the wisemen, and one of the children around those his age. He was nothing more than a relfection of the water, imitating life that stared at it.

The real Lutho showed himself to only a few. He was a boy who liked nothing more than hearing the war stories of his ancestors past. His favorite activity is walking by the riverside staring at nature and thinking pondering the wonderful silence among the trees. Despite his age, he could never sleep without his warrior toy looking over where he slept. In his mind, Lutho wanted nothing but to lounge in the wide open watching his ancestors move about and listening to the sounds of the animals, while playing endlessly with his two friends until Luna touched the sky.

For his tribe, this person could not exist. And so, Lutho changed his masks and played whatever game they wanted of him. It was degrading but he found the manipulation worked both ways. Some part of him wanted to laugh from behind his mask at how easily they were fooled. Only once did he tell his father about this and his dad laughed. The Chief had told him what he was doing was called, “politics and diplomacy” and saw his son as a master of both. Tried as he wanted, Lutho could never fool his dad.

So, in this moment, Lutho straitened his back, a smile came to his face, his eyes opened to a semi wide stance, and waited for his mother to come in. He knew her seeing him look happy was the least he could do for her.

She and his father came in at the same time. The Chief looked to his son and smiled, he truly never could fool his father but his dad seemed to be amused and appreciate the effort. The Chief then looked to his wife, Lutho’s efforts worked, she was in ecstasy at the heroic figure that was her son.

Instantly Sho and Morn, Lutho’s two friends came in. There was a shared silence in the room as everyone gazed at the three children. The Chief in training, and the two Wisemen in training, the three seemed to share a moment that spoke of their bond, and that this would final leg of their journey would be done together.

Sho and Morn were wearing the same outfit, strange that Lutho had never seen them before, but then Lutho had never seen another Wiseman go through the Last Birthday together. He put it together that what he was wearing was that of a Chief, and those were that of a Wiseman. This made him wonder at what Kalli had to wear on her last birthday so many cycles ago.

“Your’s looks stupid” Sho said flatly. The adults seemed to go wide eyed. Lutho imagined hearing his mother breaking into tears.

Lutho defended his mother’s honor, “Well atleast Morn’s outfit was weaved by someone competent!”

Morn grew smug. “It’s true.”

A smile grew on their faces, Lutho realized that if he was to die, he was glad it would be next to the two people he cared about most.

A crowd soon gathered in the open main room, villagers, the higher ups gathered to talk of the politics of the day and for the first time, they seemed to allow the input of the children assembled. Lutho realized it was like a test, a preview of the life to come. To close the event, Speaker Kalli walked in. The world shook with silence. She made her entrance as if a god among the gods.

“Wisemen in training Morn, Sho, Chief in Training Lutho,” she nodded to each. Lutho responded with his pet name, “Kal Kal!” The tone in the room changed, complete with the Speaker having a shocked look on her face. She looked around to see if anyone noticed or was staring at her. Fortunately they were all staring at Lutho.

His mission complete, he held an ackward smile.

She reaffirmed her presence then said, “I think it would be best if we allow the children to leave and enjoy themselves for the remainder of the day until the rites of passage ceremony begins. May I have your permission Chief?”

The Chief looked fondly at the man who was his son, and was too happy to give the final order, to let go of his son and see if he could thrive in this world, which he firmly believed he could. “Your advice is warranted as always Speaker. You do your predecessor well.”

Lutho noticed something shocking, a brief stab of pain in Kalli upon the mentioning of the previous Speaker. Why? He wondered. He made a note to make sure to follow up with a line of questions about this upon a later time, when he becomes Chief, she will have to answer whatever he asks. It was the first thing he would look forward to upon completing his passage ritual.

The trio, now having free reign of the village instantly began to run out into the opening and into the town that would soon be theirs for the taking. The light of Sol quickly overencombered the vision of Lutho.

“Really? You cant stand a little light? Sol hasn’t even touched the sky yet and you are already closing your eyes?” Sho wanted to laugh at his poor brethren. For some reason Lutho’s eyes were maladjusted to the brightness of the sun.

“I’ll be fine.”

“It’s that silly scar, is it acting up again?”

Morn ran to Lutho’s side, as Lutho has finally begun to be able to see. “Its actually really bright, my eyes too take some time to adjust.”

Lutho turned into his noble visage and with a wipe of his tunic, yelled with majesty, “You silly hunters (peasants), I do not need your help or sympathy!” He started to strut in his costume as if playing pretend that he was a god or great spirit among the lower life forms. “Now,” he continued, “commence bowing before me!”

Sho, “Make me!”

Morn though was already on his knees. “Oh great master, forgive Sho, he was born a fool, while I was born a Wiseman!”

Sho pretended to take offense to this, “Fool!? Well atleast I am smart enough to be a Wiseman, you can’t even remember our most basic traditions!”

Lutho interjected, “Says the man who forgets that he must bow to his Chief.”

Sho’s face went red. Lutho continued on though, “Now is as good as a time to start. Unless you got some wisdom within you that says otherwise?”

The brief silence allowed Sho to think for a second. They knew he wanted to try to impress them with something smart, witty, and unsuspecting. All they got though was, “Um…” and “well…” As the pause drew longer, Morn figured he would get up and the two were now staring at their friend who now knew he had to come up with something good or else he really would look like a fool.

“Do you have it yet?” Lutho asked.

An epiphany came to Sho, who then nodded, “it’s a good one.” Immediately Morn debated, “No it isn’t.”

Sho brushed off the inklings of a child, and took on the form of an adult, much like Lutho had done. “Let me start by saying that while it is customary to bow before a great Chief, a Chief must also prove himself to the people, and while Lutho, is a great Chief, I am wise enough to know, unlike my fellow brethren Wiseman Morn here…”

“Wiseman Morn…I like the sound of that.” Morn took an ackward pride in that sentence, like it never occurred to him he would inherit it.

“As I was saying before the immature one interrupted me, is that one who is wise stands on greatness not kneels in the face of it.” He gave himself a congratulatory body bob and weave dance, and it made sense in his mind. But when there was silence he found himself asking, “So how did I do?”

Lutho said candidly, “Our tribe is doomed.”

In a moment of the laughter and jokes between three close knit friends, Lutho spied a girl. He knew her from some of the meetings and saw her frequently, and on some occasions the two seemed to have made good company with one another. She was weaing the female tunic for the rights of passage and Lutho understood what this meant, she too would be joining him into the next life.

What really was entering his mind at this time was that she was staring right at him. Her eyes held a void, he noticed this before, that he found had no end. They were centered on him. Lutho poised himself for a moment, and pretended not to notice. In his mind however he couldn’t get the thought out, what was she thinking? What is going through her mind at this exact moment. Why was she staring at him?

Morn noticed this too. “She is staring at you. You think it’s the scar?”

Lutho’s scar began to itch. It was to right of his eye, glancing down on part of it. A memory, a dark memory. Instantly he became conscious of it and felt the need to hide it. He put his hand on his face and used it as an excuse to see if she was still looking. Through a strategic crack of his finger, he saw her, still, motionless.

He tried to play it calm, “Don’t let he know we know, just don’t pay attention.” The two nodded in agreement. But Sho couldn’t keep it down, “What do you think it is?” Lutho shrugged his shoulders. He couldn’t understand the ways of the female species. Something as Chief he no doubt would ask Speaker Kalli on too.

Morn just noted, “Of all the things I learned, I never learned about females. My mom is crazy. My sister is so unpredictable I just stopped trying to notice.

“Have you tried asking Kal Kal about this?” Again Lutho called her by his pet name. It started when he was a kid, but perhaps because he was always treated with such high esteem by everyone, he figured it was the one thing he could get away with and not be reprimanded for. Plus it was a show of his power, he was going to be Chief, how could he not be allowed to call people whatever he wanted? Lastly, he never liked addressing people by titles. Kal Kal always sounded more real to him than calling her Speaker Kalli.

As their conversation grew, they noticed that a crowd of children, and even some adults had gathered around them. Lutho’s first instinct was to tell them off, but then realized, this was the last chance to be able to mingle and be one with his crowd. Maybe, they too realized this. The mask of the future chief to be came off, and Lutho said, “Who wants to play a game?”

Time was passing quickly. The teams had formed and Lutho forgot just when was the last time he was allowed to have this kind of fun. What no one was allowed to know, he was bad at sports. His coordination lacked in certain areas and he never understood basic strategy. So, he often developed a plan to let his teammates play the integral parts of the game while he merely acted as an assist.

Sol was close to touching the sky, and he looked up briefly and sighed. All things end. Lutho, as if transported by magic, found himself infront of the second biggest dwelling in the village. An old man was sitting in front, he was in a world to himself, a smile on his face.

“You there.” The man was candid in addressing the soon to be Chief, but Lutho didn’t mind. Lutho merely turned around and allowed himself to come towards the old man.

“I know you…”

“Fire and Light, so how does the day burn bright?”

“Your are…the Speaker, I mean, the other Speaker…”

The old man smiled, “I am just an old man now. But I was asking the spirits to spend one moment with you before you go in.”

“Go in?”

“The rites of passage will begin soon. I remember mine. I know Kalli and your father well remember theirs.”

“Why did you want to see me?”

“I still see It in you, it burns brighter than the day you were born. Give me your hand child.”

It wasn’t a request, more like a favor. Lutho found it perplexed that his body was acting without his consent. Perplexed, but not angry. Lutho found himself declaring, “I have questions.” The old man responded with, “I know.”

“Will I die this day?”

The old man smiled. “Life is often scarier than death, that is what you really fear. You don’t ponder your mortality or the end of your journey, you fear the journey, and you think that it must start must mean the end of things, but you know, it’s the beginning, it always has been and you lie to yourself that you want to run.”

Lutho begun to understand why the current Speaker had twitched when bringing up the old man. He was cryptic and…blunt. “You say, I am not afraid?”

“You hunger. You always have hungered for it, but you never allowed yourself that pleasure. I give it to you now. Embrace it. I feel that when you open your eyes, the fire will be uncontained.”

“That isn’t a bad thing?”

“That is for you to decide Lutho. A journey requires choice, you can choose to be afraid of that, or you can embrace it with all that lies within you. You are not ready to open your eyes yet though.” The old man gained a frown. It slowly turned into a smile. He ended with “I am glad I got to see you. I await your return when this trial is over.”

Lutho thanked the old man, though he did not know why. It was as if something within him was smarter or wiser than the person he was. His feet carried him to the strange tent everyone was going to be gathering around in. He knew his time was up, his feet moved one at a time, and thought was void in his mind. 

Sol touched the sky and it had become noon. The crowd gathered and chattered. Speaker Kalli stepped from her tent. The trio, watched as one by one the normal tribesmen went in, like being called forth to die.

Morn started to breath heavily. He knew at this moment, nothing would happen to him, but when he would blink, it would be his time. Lutho just simply reiterated Kalli’s favorite line, “all is well.” There was a blink in time, and then they began their walk into the halls.

Inside they walked, they felt the ground crumble beneath them. It reminded Lutho of his dream. Or was it a nightmare? Speaker Kalli waited for them at the end of the hall. She looked at the two, Morn and Sho, the Wisemen in Training, “Come with me.” They left Lutho.

Lutho was alone and he began to wonder the silent halls. He was sure the rites of passage ceremony had begun but he didn’t understand what was happening, and somehow that he had not begun to participate was an error in his part. He slowly lifted a veil and saw inside.

There were bodies on the floor. Not moving. They were of his tribe, the people celebrating their last birthday! Lutho saw some smoke in the air but he held his breath. Beneath his foot was the girl with the boundless eyes, except they were closed and she looked still. An admirer of the smallest of beauty, Lutho found he didn’t want to take his eyes off her. She looked so calm and serene. A warm touch ran across his foot. She was breathing. He slowly began to back out.

He was expecting the Speaker to be there, with death in her mind. They looked calm and serene but there was something wrong about all this. People don’t sleep like this! He didn’t want to sleep like this! He wanted his friends and he wanted them now.

They are asleep too, without Lutho, they abandoned him. The thought was cruel but it was spoken by a voice that Lutho couldn’t shake out. Look around, the same voice seemed to command. Lutho kept his pace quiet so not to disturb any ill spirit around him. If he was going to survive this, he must use all his witts about him. The tent went three different directions, at the end of the first hall. He took the right path.

He entered a small room, in it was a picture of a magnificent eagle. He looked around and next to it was a drawing of a deer and…someone Lutho never saw before. What room was he in? The art style was very similar he felt it must have been the same person. For whatever reason, despite his logic telling him otherwise, he felt safe in this room.

Maybe he could hide in here, then wait a while and claim that he completed the rites of passage ceremony when night comes. It felt like a good idea.

“You like it?” A voice came from behind.

“Kal Kal,” he used the nonformal address, “what have you done to my friends and my people?”

“They have begun their journey. But tell me what you think of this place?”

Lutho looked around one last time, “Where am I?”

“This is the Speaker’s room. This is where I was when I commenced the ceremony during my last birthday.”

“You drew these pictures?”

“Not just me, but in a way, yes. I drew them. That eagle you see, he watches over all of us. He is my spirit guide. Through him, I perform many of my duties to the tribe.”

“What about the person with the strange features?”

There was a pause. Speaker Kalli almost didn’t speak.

“I…I loved him.”

“Kal Kal?”

“Yes Lutho?”

“I am not to sleep in this room am I?”

Speaker Kalli smiled, “No, not this room, this is where the Speakers in Training sleep and where I often meditate for the days ahead. Your room is the middle one, the farthest from the center. Are you ready to go?”

Lutho nodded.

They had begun to walk and Lutho found himself asking, “What is love like? My dad wants me to start looking for a wife and I feel this wall between me and others.”

“You are thinking of that girl, aren’t you? The one who likes to stare at you.”

“How did you know?”

“Lutho, your adventure, it’s going to be greater than anyone else’s in this tent. Your burden, will be greater than the others. It will be hardest of all.”

“I don’t want to face it alone.”

They stopped infront of the veil that led to the Chief’s room. Speaker Kalli opened the veil and Lutho walked in.

“You are never alone Lutho.”

Lutho saw, somehow his warrior model, a heroic figure he held so brightly as a kid was in a stand right infront of him. The room was grand, too grand for his taste but then he began to understand that this wasn’t because of privilege, to walk out of this room, perchance, was something earned. The toy, it held in it a magic power.

“I am not too old for this?”

A smile was the answer. Lutho then turned his attention to all the ornaments and decorations. Tribal outfits, old as recorded times. Relics of days forgotten laid infront of him and he could feel their aura. This time he stood infront of the ghosts of the many who had come before him, and they in turn said, “you are worthy to be with us.” They granted him their power and respect.

Doubt raised its head once though. “I am not alone, what does that mean?”

Speaker Kalli walked infront of a monumental model of one of the founding Speaker Chiefs, she told Lutho to close his eyes and she said something that he couldn’t put his finger on. When she stopped, she held a bowl to him.

“Chief in Training Lutho, inhale what you can, and meditate on your mission.”

Lutho opened his eyes, and despite being perplexed, he let the fumes enter his nose and mouth, they seeped into his lungs and into his very being.

His vision became distorted. He had been tricked! He couldn’t keep his eyes open but for whatever will they were not closed.

“What have you done to me?”

“I sense someone is waiting for you on the other side. I cannot tell you what you must do, nor do I know how long you will sleep for, days or weeks…”

Lutho wanted to yell, ‘weeks!?’ but nothing came out. She had betrayed his trust. His mind was wandering.

“I have sent some to help you on your way. I pray for your safe travels Lutho.”

She put a hand on his head, it was the last thing he felt before his eyes closed, and his soul no longer inhabited his body.

Author's Note

The Chapters are going to be a bit long. Mostly I want each chapter to be its own adventure or its own part of an adventure. That beign said, if they are too long, feel free to space it out. Any comments, compliments and criticisms are welcome!