Children of Chaos - Book 1

“If I had died… Do you think that would have been better, for everyone?”

“...Maybe.”

The heat was excruciating. My feet felt as heavy as lead as I dragged them through the burning sand, one tired step at a time, sweat running into my eyes, my throat screaming for water. My lips were dry, my skin red and hot, and every part of my body told me to lie down and die, and suddenly that didn’t seem like such a bad idea. I had nothing left, nothing but my life, and that seemed to be hanging by a thread as well. I had escaped the Elders only to die in some strange desert, all alone. How ironic it was, that I was going to die beneath the blazing sun. Shinehah’s daughter, killed by the sun. How poetic.

I didn’t even realize that my legs had stopped moving, or how I had slowly sunken to the ground, but I felt the blazing sand burn into my skin, felt my eyes close. The last thing I saw was a pair of boots approaching me, and then there was blissful nothingness.

I awoke to the gentle scent of incense and the sound of soft music played by some kind of string instrument. I was wrapped in a soft blanket and, to my complete embarrassment, I was completely naked. My burnt skin felt raw underneath the covers, but not painful, just sensitive. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around.

Above me was cream coloured cloth, a tent then. I was lying on a thin but soft mat. The ground beneath it was covered in a beautiful thick colourful ornamented carpet. As I looked around I saw three other empty mats such as mine, with white blankets and soft flat white pillows.

It was bizarre, somehow. I was in a strange place and had no memory of how I had gotten here, but I felt safe. Maybe it was the smell, or maybe it was the music, but this place felt peaceful, homey. So I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep again, dreaming about azure blue eyes.

“She still hasn’t woken up?”, The voice was a deep and pleasant, with a strange accent. A man’s voice.

“Not yet”, an older voice replied, a woman’s this time. A cool wrinkly hand was placed over my forehead and I felt some of the rawness of my skin lessen, as a cool feeling flooded over me. I must have moved my face in surprise because the old woman chuckled.

“Ah, I guess I was wrong. She just did. Open your eyes dear, no harm will come to you here.”

I slowly opened my eyes and was met with azure blue ones hidden within the folds of a wrinkly, old and kind featured face. The woman looking at me looked too old to be alive, but her eyes were full of vitality, and her smile had something youthful about it. She had long white hair, flowing surprisingly thick over her shoulders.

“Where am I?”, I asked, my voice rough and hoarse. I was extremely thirsty.

“Here here”, the old woman said as she brought a cup to my lips. The cold wet within my dry mouth felt wonderful and I closed my eyes as it ran down my throat.

“You’re in our camp”, the deep voice said and I looked up to be met by yet another pair of azure blue eyes, almost identical to those of the old woman. The man who had spoken was not very tall, but he had an aura about him that showed confidence. He had light brown hair, broad shoulders and a soft smile on his lips.

“Us being the Shemsuddin, an old nomadic tribe. You’re lucky we found you.”

“Thank you”, I said and smiled shyly in return. Then I remembered that I was still naked underneath the covers and blushed a deep red as I pulled them up to my chin. The old woman chuckled as if reading my mind, or maybe just the redness of my face.

“Khai, our guest is a bit underdressed, would you mind stepping outside?”

He blushed just as deeply as I had only seconds before, and left the tent, mumbling apologies. The old woman just chuckled again.

“Well that was fun. Now let’s find you some clothes. My name is Aycronea by the way, but you can just call me Gamma, most do.” She left the tent without giving me the chance to introduce myself, humming a song to herself.

I thought about everything that had just happened. The last thing I remembered was the heat of the desert sand beneath my cheek. I must have passed out in the desert and somehow I had been found by a nomadic tribe. I hadn’t even known that those still existed. Aycronea, or Gamma, had apparently nursed me back to health. Suddenly something dawned on me. She had used magic! Panic shot through me. If she had used magic to heal me then she was gifted, which meant that she was aware of the clans, and that meant that she knew who, or better what I was! There was no way that she hadn’t seen the mark on my wrist. I had to get out of here! But I was still naked and that was definitely a problem. I looked around the tent, hoping to find something to put on, when the entrance of the tent was pulled back and the old woman came in. She took one look at me and stopped in her tracks while a gentle smile appeared on her face.

“I believe I already told you: No harm will come to you here. Now get dressed and we will talk later.“

Her eyes were so calm and kind that I felt myself relax. Something about her reminded me of Morgain. Maybe it was the kind wisdom in her eyes, I wasn’t sure, but I felt myself trust her. I took the clothes she offered me and slipped into them. Some soft undergarments and loose light brown pants, leaving in plenty of air, and a tunic like blue shirt that did the same. Clothes perfect for the desert sands. Once done, I sat back down on my mat and faced her, as she sat down in front of me.

“Who are you?”, I asked her, looking straight at her.

“I believe I already told you”, she said with a soft chuckle. Then, before I could protest, she held up her hand and continued. “My name, as I told you, is Aycronea Bomani, and I am the matriarch of the Shemsuddin. Like my grand-son has mentioned, we’re nomads, but not ordinary nomads. I have seen that mark you wear on your wrist. I have one too.”, she held up her left wrist showing me the gentle waves that formed a circle. Mayim’s kiss.

“I know why you are so afraid, and I assure you, we have no association with the Reservoir or its Elders. We do not believe in the Gods you fear so much. We worship only one Goddess, Surya, the sun.”

I looked at her in surprise. They worshiped the sun? That meant that they worshiped Shinehah.

“Why would you worship the traitor?”, I asked before I could help myself.

She just chuckled.” Ah yes. The clans tell a different legend than we do. You see in your legend Surya, or Shinehah as I believe you call her, betrayed her siblings did she not? But the Shemsuddin believe a different story. We believe that the world was about to be swallowed by the darkness and Surya sacrificed her own life, becoming the sun, to save the world. In our legend she is not the traitor, she is the saviour. The light of the world.”

I could hardly believe my ears. As long as I had known about the Gods and magic I had believed that the Six were good and the traitor was bad. That was the way the world worked. Seven Gods. Six good ones and one bad one. An easy concept, one I had never questioned. But here I was living with a clan that believed that there was only one Goddess and that that Goddess was a good one at that. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

“So there’s only one Goddess?”, I asked and Gamma nodded.

“And she’s good?” She nodded again.

“Then what does the mark on your wrist stand for?”, I asked.

“Ah yes. My mark. You would believe that this is the mark of the water Goddess, yes?”

This time it was I who nodded.

“Well I believe that it is Surya’s gift to me. She knows my desires to heal and help, and so she gifted me with the ability to do so through water. The marks don’t stand for the Gods, they stand for the gifts we’ve been given. You’ve been gifted too, and a rare gift at that, but you’ve also been cursed.”

I looked up into her eyes. They were completely serious now as she answered my gaze.

“Cursed?”

“Do you see the circle around the sun? That is Ahriman’s symbol.”

“Ahriman?” The name wasn’t familiar to me.

“You would call him Ereb. He is the darkness that Surya defeated, a being far older than this world, a being of darkness and chaos. Or maybe I shouldn’t say a being, but consciousness. You see having Surya’s gift comes at a price. She sacrificed herself to keep the darkness at bay, and so the darkness became a part of her. She blessed and cursed you with this gift. You too will always carry light and darkness within you, constantly at war.”

Constantly at war with myself. I shuddered.

“Isn’t there a way to get rid of it?”, I asked, not without fear. Her expression told me the answer.

“I will teach you how to control it if you wish. But first I believe you haven’t told me your name”, she winked at me. I blushed again, feeling very rude.

“Oh, of course! My name is Kyra. Kyra Thaemsis.”, I stuttered and blushed.

“Nice to meet you Kyra Thaemsis”, said a voice from the entry and I looked up to see the man from before. “My name is Khai, Khai Bomani. “

Khai Bomani was… handsome. I hadn’t noticed this before, because I had been a bit groggy from just waking up and a little self-aware with the entire nakedness, but he was definitely a looker. Not in the typical supermodel kind of way. He wasn’t particularly tall, although easily one and half heads taller than me. Broad shoulders, strong arms and the general air of someone who spend a lot of time moving. His skin was dark from the sun, which only made his azure blue eyes shine out more, and he had a messy mop of caramel coloured hair that hung slightly into his eyes. Over all? Not too shabby. But there was something else about him, something besides the looks. He just seemed…good. I didn’t know how else to put it. There was just something through and through good about him.

“Want me to show you around our humble camp?”, he asked as he held out his hand to help me up. Hesitantly I looked over at Gamma who simply smiled and then I looked back at Khai and nodded, taking his calloused hand in mine.