Aynsefian

We have found some residents of Aynsefian. How, I don’t know.

There’s a coldness in the pit of my stomach and my heart beats faster. I can’t shake the foreboding coming over me. It’s more worrisome than anything that’s happened so far.

Two of the people in the town, a man and a woman, have noticed us. They look quite bewildered. I’m thinking it’s the way we are dressed compared to them. They are each wearing what looks like a one-piece item made of a simple white cotton-like material, wrapped with wide beige belts around their midriff. The bottom half of their clothing is of a loose fitting pant style, stretching almost to their ankles.

Zarasena is wearing the red one-piece satin suit with the long sleeves that she has worn since I first saw her the day before. I have on my usual black pants, white undershirt and blue silk overshirt. We are colourful, they are not. It seems to disturb them. They are almost taking backward steps at the same time as they are walking towards us.

They eventually do approach us. The woman speaks.

“Nuo’in xa noo hi koum xa paam tok?”, she says.

It’s in that same weird language that my parents used not long ago in that in-between-the-void world that both Zarasena and I experienced. I can’t understand this woman at all. I’m not even shocked. The inevitability of it all is most galling.

“I’m sorry, we don’t understand your words,” I say.

This stops them in their tracks. Now they are staring at us in disbelief. The woman takes another step forward.

“Kau’an ta ko kiihaxa’oin pafui!” she says, in an elevated tone. Her voice has an aggravated, anxious edge to it. Her skin has paled somewhat. She is fidgeting with her waistband.

They both seem as if they’re about to jump us. I glance at Zarasena, hoping that my rising anxiety is not showing on my face.

She looks as worried as I feel. We are completely unarmed. Zarasena is moving in closer to me, as if looking for protection. I have no idea how I’m going to provide that.

“Ta ko kiihaxa’oin pafui, fusin!” The woman beckons angrily towards us. Her face is pale and her eyes are narrowed at us. She is leaning forward a little, her fists clenched. The man looks ready to kill us with his bare hands. Saying anything more is probably not advisable at this point.

The man seems subservient to the woman. Clearly she has a higher standing in this community. I’m still perplexed at how these people got here so fast. This village looked like it hadn’t been inhabited in millennia the first time we saw it. Now it’s clean and looks totally lived in.

At least I have Zarasena with me, and we can share the bewilderment. In fact, I’ve been so shocked by the suspicion directed at us by these strangers that I hadn’t even noticed that she was touching me, holding onto my left forearm. She lets go as we start following the woman and her male companion. Despite our circumstances, I wish she hadn’t let go. It was nice for a moment.

Then I hear her whispering to me. It’s crazily brave in the circumstances.

“I think we time travelled or something!” Her whisper is way, way too loud. I can feel my heart beating faster. She doesn’t stop.

“Or we found a memory link back to their society, and this is all going on in our brains. Together. My brother talked about this.”

“How do you know which it is?” I dare whisper back.

“We won’t know until maybe later.”

Suddenly the man turns around. I almost stop walking, but if I do, it might be a sign of guilt. I pretend nothing is up.

We got away with it. I’m not even sure why Zarasena wanted to tell me that right now, but since she has, it’s all I can think of. A memory link? This is all happening inside our brains? I can’t believe that. It all feels very real to me. Like I’m really here. We had to have time travelled. We’re in Aynsefian, for real.

I only wish Arlyss and Cindlyss were here. They’d know what is going on and how to make sense of it. They could tell Zarasena and she could tell me.

We arrive into the middle of the town. It’s exactly as I remember it from the day before, except that the buildings have doors and windows, and people are clearly living here. Our presence has brought the townsfolk to a standstill. They stare at us like we have three heads each and are going to devour them for our midday meal. The whole town has a hush over it.

I don’t understand the hostility. Not even a little bit. I have no idea why they would be so affronted by us. Yes, we’re foreign, but we are no threat at all to them. We’re just strangers. If only they’d get to know us, talk to us. Somehow. The language barrier appears insurmountable, so that’s not going to happen.

The woman stops outside the central building in this village. It’s one I recall from our tour here earlier, but now it’s now very much lived in. There is crystal on the windows where there wasn’t before. The door is made of a dark wood that I don’t recognise, and it has an ornate door handle in the shape of a small bird. It looks like some sort of dove or pigeon. I can’t tell if this is a universal thing, or just for this building. This particular building already appears to have some sort of administrative purpose.

The completeness of the village, and this building especially, plus all of the live townsfolk milling around, leads to only one conclusion.

We are now in the real Aynsefian society.

I now believe that the formerly innocent-looking set of metallic shapes Zarasena and I put together represented some sort of time travel device which we activated unknowingly.

Once again I’m struck by how I have stumbled into a situation without even knowing how I did it.

The man holds the door open for us and waves us inside, eyeing us warily. We follow the woman, who walks in ahead of us without turning to see if we’ve followed. No words are spoken. I glance around quickly before going through the door, surprised to now notice a range of different looking people in this small community. There is more than one race here, yet they all seem to belong together. Nonetheless, they are all, as one, staring at Zarasena and I.

I hate being the centre of attention at the best of times, but in a distorted reality in time and space terms, it’s distinctly disconcerting.

I’m staying close to Zarasena. All we have is each other. This is a woman I have only just gotten to know, yet right now she is my best friend. We’re in this together and we must draw on each other for support.

The interior of this building is stunning. There are large symbolic carvings on the walls, and small crystals light up the carvings in different colours, creating dazzling visual patterns any way you look. I’m astounded by the work that must have gone into these wall decorations. They’re incredibly beautiful.

The first one, on the left wall, looks like a representation of a campfire. It has carvings within its wooden construction that have been painted in reds and oranges. The crystals are similar in colour, lighting up the whole design so that it indeed looks like it’s alive and burning. This is clearly representing Fire.

The second image, just beyond it, is more static. There are deeper colours of browns, greens and greys. The design has depth, almost drawing the viewer into it. I am immediately reminded of the entrance to this cave, up on the surface. The design of this decoration – perhaps mural is a better way to describe it – evokes comfort and shelter. Earth.

On the right wall are two quite exciting murals. The first is flowing greys and blues, and a great deal of white. The crystals flicker in harmony with each other, evoking movement and change. The feeling I get when I watch it is one of peace, yet transition. Air.

The final mural flows even more than the others, with a combination of blues and aquas flowing throughout its design. There is depth in this mural too, such that it makes the viewer feel as if they should follow where it leads, which is straight into the centre of it. It reminds me of the feeling I had when the Purlinians and I began to follow Salvation’s Creek a few days ago, although it seems like eons now. This is clearly Water.

I look away from the walls and back into the interior of the large room we’ve been led into.

Zarasena and I are brought in front of an oversized but empty wooden chair in the middle of this room. The woman leading us turns and gestures for us to stop there. A few women are already in whispered conversation behind the chair against the far wall. The woman who led us here joins them. I can hear more words in that strange language. I take a quick sideways look at my companion. She looks resolute, and this gives me comfort. I will adopt the same countenance in return. She glances at me and winks. I can’t suppress a smile. I wish I had been able to. I’m worried about unintentionally provoking these people. A thought then occurs to me.

If this is indeed the legendary Aynsefian society that we’re in, then Arlyss and Cindlyss got it wrong. History, in whichever way it was recorded for them, was false.

A legendary society wouldn’t be fearful and suspicious like these people are.

One of the women breaks away from the whispered discussions and motions to us. We follow her as she starts walking out of this impressive central room and through one of a number of doors into a room at the back. I soon realise that this is an alternative way out of this building.

We are out in the town again, objects of suspicion and gossip once more. Townsfolk are literally whispering to each other and staring at us. I don’t like it at all.

This new woman, whose hair is dark and straight, is smaller in stature than most of the villagers. She appears to have some sort of security role, as she takes us to a smaller building out the back of the town, away from most of the residences. I feel as if we are going to be held for now. Under what charge I don’t know.

She opens the door, ushers us inside, and then closes it on us without any further gestures or words and definitely without a smile or warmth of any sort. I dare not try the door, and neither does Zarasena.

They might kill us if we try to leave. Or at least hurt us. That’s how it feels.