2 days left
Avso stood at the door of his father's house. The night was dark and dense. He had cleaned up the wound on his cheek, so it didn’t show. He couldn’t have his father thinking he was weak.
Avso was dead tired after the team’s training. He felt like every bone in his body would break under his weight. He wanted to go to bed and sleep forever, but he couldn’t.
He walked inside.
The greeting room was empty, but he knew where his family would be. He hesitantly walked there.
All the children were lined up before his father for the cleansing ritual. His father had a mud pot, and he traced two streaking lines across their cheeks with mud.
The scent of earth rose from the open mud pot. Tapestries depicting Murok adorned the walls. The air was heavy with the musk of damp soil. The room was close, almost intimate, yet charged with an unspoken expectation. The Earth waited with held breath, waiting for mud and skin to bind and become one. To Murok, mud and skin were the same.
Avso found his way to the back of the line. He was always the last one. His father would always do his sloppily—not even looking in his eyes.
Bwaza looked back at him. “Where were you?”
“Doing something for father. Did you have a nice day?” Avso tried making conversation, but it felt stilted.
“No, you weren’t.” Trauzi ignored Avso’s question. “Why would Dad want you to do something for him? He would never trust you with anything.”
Avso felt anger flare up in him, but he pushed it down. “Yes, he would.”
“What was it then?”
“Dad probably wanted him to clean his robes or something stupid like that.”
Trauzi and Bwaza snickered. Avso ignored them.
It was their turn, and his father performed the cleansing ritual on them.
Then, it was just Avso and his father in the room.
His father’s hand hesitated by the mud pot. Then he dipped his hand in the mud. He looked Avso in the eyes and slowly traced the mud lines across his face. He didn’t say a word.
Avso’s heart skipped a beat. It was small, but his father seldom acknowledged him. He never looked Avso in the eyes during the ritual—except for now.
After the cleansing ritual, his father asked slowly, “How did the meeting with the others go?”
“It went … poorly. The team doesn’t work well together. Not at all.”
“How?” His father’s eyes narrowed.
“They got into a massive fight. Skamtos Wascofi was drunk and attacked people. Uk Kinzuzzuh was messing around with people’s movements. Luif Moodi went off in a rage and attacked Skamtos after he attacked him. And Kraz Dufmaik had to fight Skamtos.”
Frauza seethed. He stayed silent for a moment. “Well,” he whispered. “I will make sure they work together better.”
Avso nodded. “I’ll help. I’ll make sure they stay on track.”
“Leave me.”
Avso bowed to Frauza. “Thank you, Father. Thank you for trusting me in this position.”
“Leave.”
Avso wanted to linger and talk, but his feet moved as if he had no control over them. His head sunk lower, and he left.
Avso had barely slept at all when he was tossed awake. Avso was startled and flew out of his bed. He was blind in the darkness. But he recognized his father’s voice and immediately stood still.
“Come with me. Now.”
Avso’s eyes widened. The room lay cloaked in impenetrable darkness that swallowed shapes and edges, leaving only the imagination to outline the familiar. The scant light from the sliver of a moon, barely creeping through the cracks of the shutters, fought in vain to illuminate the space, casting more shadows than clarity.
He could only see his father’s silhouette. Why’s he waking me up? He’s never done anything like this before.
“Get ready and come with me.”
Avso clothed himself quickly and followed his father out into the cold night.
“What is it, father?”
“Luif Moodi is gone.”
“What?”
“He abandoned us. He’s no longer a part of the mission.”
“What do you mean?” Avso couldn’t understand it.
They walked to the carriage and stepped in. It was Kraz's carriage.
He stepped in and saw Uk, Kraz, and Skamtos. Skamtos was staring off into space.
“Thank you, Frauza,” Kraz said. “We will be going now.”
Avso looked between them.
Frauza nodded. “If needed, I will find us a replacement.”
“I’m afraid that might not be possible. But thank you.”
Uk shut the door, and the carriage started moving.
“What’s happening?” Avso immediately asked. The carriage started moving.
“Luif’s gone. He’s not anywhere. None of us can sense him.” Kraz said.
“Why would he leave us?”
“Probably got scared. Didn’t want to die.”
“But ... This is more important than fear. Why would he abandon us.”
“Listen,” Skamtos said. ‘We don’t know. But we need to figure out another plan.”
“He always left things half-finished, from what I’ve heard,” Uk said. “He once worked for Emperor Veus building abodes; he quit after two weeks.”
“Thirteen days,” Kraz said. “He told me that he became a mural artist after that.”
“No, he didn’t.” Uk laughed. “That little guy was an artist?”
“For a month, he was. Then he left to become a warrior. You were right about him leaving things half-finished.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere warm, hopefully,” Uk groaned. “I’m freezing to death in here.”
“We’re heading to my home,” Kraz said.
“Why don’t we just go to my father’s house?” Avso asked. “He’s right there.”
“Because we’re not stupid. That’s why,” Skamtos said. He shook his head and continued to stare at the wall.
“This is more important than your grudge against my father,” Avso said. “We just lost a member of our team—a member the entire plan relied on. Let’s just head inside.”
Skamto’s lips thinned. “No.”
Avso seethed. But he didn’t argue. He wouldn’t get anywhere.
“Did you leave a fire going, Kraz?”
“Yes, I did—”
“Oh, thank Murok. You’re amazing, Kraz. You’re my hero.”
“Kinzuzzuh,” Skamtos said, "just make yourself warmer. That’s a part of your specialty.”
Uk faltered. “Yes, but ... I don’t want to now, that’s all.”
Avso thought Uk was joking for a moment. But then he realized he wasn’t. “Wait, why don’t you just use your Otu?”
Uk shrugged. “Don’t want to, that’s all. Stop asking.”
Avso’s eyes narrowed. Something strange was going on there.
“How do you know that Luif is gone? What if he just went somewhere else?” Avso asked.
I can’t sense him at all. Uk said, “That means he’s either purposefully blocking my link or dead. And there’s no way that little guy could’ve died overnight. So he abandoned us.”
“Wait, you can sense anyone?” Avso asked.
Uk snorted. “No, I wish. Only those who allow my link. So I can see where you are at any time.” Uk smirked creepily.
“Quit it, Uk,” Skamtos said.
“What? I’m not allowed to scare him a little?”
Skamtos shook his head.
They reached Kraz’s house and stepped out.
“It isn’t ideal, but I have a small room downstairs that should be private enough for this.”
They walked into Kraz’s house, down the steps, and into a small room. Kraz brought a plate of bread.
They all sat on the ground in a circle.
“So, we need a new plan going forward that doesn’t involve Luif.”
They were silent for a moment.
“We could do my plan,” Avso said.
“What’s your plan?”
“We could use my connection with the emperor.”
Kraz was silent. “It’s the best option I see. What do you think, Skamtos?”
Skamtos stayed silent, staring into space.
Uk cut in. "I'm fine with it."
"Skamtos?" Kraz said.
“I don’t like it," Skamtos said. "But I agree. We must ambush him somewhere unless we want to attack him in the open. This is the best way to do that.”
Avso nodded. “You can trust me. I’ll do well.”
“Let’s finalize the plan,” Kraz said, “We could have Avso convince the Emperor to meet somewhere. Meanwhile, we’re waiting at a location. The Emperor goes there, and we ambush him.”
They all stayed silent, thinking it over.
“Sounds good to me,” Uk said.
“It should work, assuming Avso can convince the Emperor. We’ll go with this for now.”
“I agree,” Kraz said. “Just so we’re all on the same page, Avso will convince the Emperor to meet at the Guha Labyrinth—“
“Why the Guha Labyrinth?” Uk asked.
“The Otu is dampened there. It's where the Emperor will be weakest. We'll be able to counteract the Otu dampening by using Tesro's Amulet.”
“OK,” Uk nodded.
“So, we need you to go to the emperor and tell him to go to Guha Labyrinth.”
“I can do that,” Avso pushed down his nervousness. “When will I do this?”
“We don’t have much time ... Let’s practice together some more, then you’ll go and talk to the Emperor.”
“Wait,” Uk said. “We’re going to practice more right now?”
“Yes, we must make sure we work together well.”
Uk sighed. “Alrighty then, let’s go do it.
