Maker of Fire

Twee, at Sils'chk

Human mating pairs are interesting to watch. They are so different from us. I enjoyed watching Arma and her young man, Snow Bear, meet and then mate. Human courtship takes such a long time and it is complicated. I know that I do not appreciate all the nuances of human reproductive behaviors.

The little prophet Emily and her young man were also fun to watch. They had mated in their beforetime, so they already were acquainted. Meeting again after so many years apart, they spent a lot of time circling and rediscovering each other. I could tell they were uncertain about their relationship for the first season they were back together. They spent almost all the trip to Sussbesschem talking or playing their divines. By they time they disembarked at Sils'chk, they were acting like a happily-mated human couple. To borrow a human concept, they were cute together.

Humans, both Cosm and Coyn, don't change sex as they grow older. They form couples who then birth their young one at a time. They don't lay hard eggs like Chem or soft eggs in a protected nest like fish. They grow their young inside of their females and then eject them when the child can live outside of the parent.

The Coyn are much more fertile than Cosm. They have a gestation period of three seasons before their females eject their young from their womb. Coyn young also die off in large numbers, with only one half reaching the adult age of sixteen.

The Cosm manage to rear most of their young successfully, which is good since they are not prolific breeders. Their gestation is six seasons and most Cosm mothers only bear two young during their fertile period. Humans also know who their children are. They seldom turn their young out like griffins and eagles. Like many other air-breathers, Cosm raise their own children, which is different from the Chem.

Once Chem eggs hatch, our young take to the water and spend the next three years with just gills. Those of us who survived our first three years then spend the next thirty as slaves to our nature as klm, the small and childlike female egg-layers. We find a ksh'g'lsh, mate with him, lay eggs, and after a season, decide to stay or to move on.

After around thirty turns of the seasons, a klm will gain true sapience and become a ksh'g'lsh. Our sexual organs change at that time. We lose our ability to lay eggs and grow to our full adult size. Our jaws gain the strength to crush sugar cane, which we chew and combine with the secretions of our mouths to make our nests. Our nests contain everything needed to fertilize and nourish our eggs.

Once our younglings hatch, they eat the nest and escape into the waters of the Sussbesschem swamps. The ones that survive the first three years will search for a prepared nest. This is a joyous time for the Chem, when our new egg-layers crawl out of the waters for the first time and into our nests made for them with care and love.

We call the celebration of the arrival of new klms the Tskrltp. Most humans can't articulate that word so they call it Homecoming.

If a klm is lucky, it will find an affluent ksh'g'lsh and may decided to stay for its entire childhood at its nest. Unlucky klmt or those who can't swim fast enough must take what they can find for ksh'g'lsht. That was the case with me. My first three ksh'g'lsht were poor and the nest quality was low. I left those nests after hatching. Though most Chem have few memories from their time as klmt, I remember deciding to leave. My fourth and last nest was made by, Twalkt , a ksh'g'lsh who became a shaman after he outgrew breeding. Twalkt's nest was large and tasty and I felt safe there. I spent my childhood as a klm with Twalkt.

When I became ksh'g'lsh, I made my own nest at Twalkt's village. Twalkt taught me how to speak both the water and air languages. The other villagers taught me how to cultivate sugar cane. When I had seen thirty-two turns of the seasons as a ksh'g'lsh, I outgrew breeding and became a kl'dr. Twalkt decided to train me as a shaman. After my apprenticeship with him, we took the long swim to Sils'chk where Vassu accepted me as one of her own.

Shwook, our village, was one of the largest settlements of the Reeds-and-Pines region. It had more than enough resources to support several shamans. When we returned home, I built my reed hut next to Twalkt's and shared meals with him. Twalkt was the oldest shaman in Shwook. I grieved for all the years I was a slave because I knew I would never see him again. He was probably dead by now since he was old even when I was just a ksh'g'lsh.

I was in the mussel beds when I was captured. The slavers who captured me knew I was a shaman from my spots. Because of that, they blinded me as soon as they had me caged on their ship. Losing my eyesight was a kind of death for me. For the first five turns I was blind, I wanted to die. There was no joy left for me. During the years after that, as I changed ownership several time, I learned to not care anymore.

Having enough water magic to become a shaman, I was highly valued as a water slave. Eventually, I was sold to the Impotuan army because I could supply the water needs for a full-sized fort just by myself. That was how I met Arma at the last fort I served at. In my sightless world, I did not know where I was. I only knew that the fort was in a cold place. Arma cast warmth charms for me every day that we served together and talked with me, curing my loneliness and despair. She was the kindest Impotuan I met during my time as a slave.

I missed Arma. She had become my first non-Chem friend. If Arma was with me, it would have been easier to convince my fellow shaman that I was not a shade like those who walked the waters on the Night of the Dead. Arma could have persuaded them that slave blindness could be cured using the magic that Ud taught Aylem, Revelator of Tiki.

The Five Caretakers of Sils'chk would not do anything I suggested. They were uncomfortable around me, thinking I was truly dead. I found it ironic that they listened to Emily and followed her orders. She really was someone who had died and had walked with Gertzpul in his gardens. She was the living dead and could still abide among us beyond the Night of the Dead. Yet they treated her as the living and treated me as one lost to the salty waters of the ocean deeps.

I decided not to mention Emily's death to anyone. If the Five Caretakers decided not to listen to either of us, nothing would get done and Vassu's desire for the emancipation of the Chem would remain unfulfilled. As it was, Emily and Tom picked a spot on an adjacent island north of Sils'chk for the furnaces. Emily picked it because the island was downwind of Sils-chk and had what she called bog ore. Sils'chk had more area, being one of the largest islands in Sussbesschem, but the furnace island was still large enough that it would take Emily and Tom half a day to walk across it, assuming they could cross the swampy parts.

Coyn are not well-equipped to walk in swamps, unlike Chem. If we did not need to build our nests next to open water, I think we would move all our villages into the middle of swampy ground to get away from Cosm raiders. Cosm are too heavy to cross the swamps.

The shamans who currently made up the Five Caretakers brought a guest to us. It was two days after the Sea Coyn unloaded all the bricks on the Furnace Island, bought loads of sugar and brown syrup, and departed. We were staying in the huts for guests to Sils'chk, on the edge of the temple village. I was sitting with Emily while Tom cooked some fish I had caught for the two of them. Chem don't eat set meals. When hungry, we just dive into the nearest waterway and swallow any fish that get too close.

Earlier that day, I took Emily and Tom into the water in the Well of Vassu so they could see the pictographs on the walls of the Well. I showed them the trio of images depicting the capture of Chem by Cosm, the blinding, and the creation of the death plaques in a village chapel for those taken.

"So, those taken in raids are legally dead once the plaque is installed in the memorial chapel," Emily pondered. "How old are those pictographs?"

"Sssmore than three thousand turns, friend Emily," I replied, lounging on a fallen tree truck.

"It makes no sense to me that those captured are considered just as dead as the truly dead," Emily frowned. "I understand that declaring someone to be legally dead is a necessary move. Life must move on; however, it's unbelievable that someone who is legally-dead can't regain status as a living person."

"Emily," I replied, "no one has ever returned from slavery, ever. The customs of the Chem must change because thousands of former slaves will return home within two turns. Chem society has never faced anything like this before."

"I find it horrible that the Chem have been subject to Cosm raids for that long," Emily shook her head. "The Chem have never tried to fight back?"

"It is against our nature to fight," I rolled over onto my back to catch the sun on my belly. "We are best at running away, so that is what we prefer to do. Other than the Cosm, our predators are the razor whales, the sharks, slump seals, and sea eagles. Those taken or attacked do struggle, but with the aim to escape, not to kill. We are not strong. Our only weapons are our teeth. We can dive to avoid eagles and we can outswim seals. Sharks and razor whales can overtake us but they can't tolerate the brackish swamps or the fresh water of the great river. We are not good at defending ourselves but we seldom need to do so. Violence is not our way."

"So, no army, no navy, and no police," Emily frowned. "What happens if a Chem is violent toward other Chem?"

"Sssnever happens," I answered truthfully. "We are not a violent race."

"Never?" If I interpreted her expression correctly, Emily was doubtful.

"Ssssss, Emily, there is no violence between Chem," I stated as if teaching young ksh'g'lsht.

"No wonder your ruling shamans look like they want to vomit whenever we mention training a navy," Tom said from the cooking fire. Most of the Chem visiting Sils'chk avoided our two huts because of the fire. We only made fire for refining sugar. Because of the danger that fire had to dry out our skin, only kr'dlt were permitted to make sugar. To keep me comfortable while Tom cooked, Emily had a big piece of cotton fabric and a bucket of water. She dipped the cotton in the bucket and spread it out over my neck and head to keep my skin moist while talking. I didn't need it but being the target of Emily's kindness left me feeling loved and valued, which was something I had missed in the years that I was a slave.

"I can't say I find the thought a welcome one," Emily made a human look of disapproval. "Taking an entire peaceful race and teaching it how to kill and destroy is sickening. Sometimes I think the gods would have done better to curtail the greed and violence in Cosm instead of cutting back on their creativity and boosting their piety. I find it reprehensible that we must teach the Chem the very worst of human behaviors in order to overcome the very worst of human behaviors."

"Well, hello, friend," Emily looked up and out beyond the cooking fire to where a kl'dr approached from the direction of the temple. I could tell he was old from the fading of what must have been bright red spots on his green skin and the way his lip curled by his back teeth. He reminded me of what Twalkt would look like if he were still alive.

"Sssss," the old kl'dr hissed as he inflated his air bladder to speak.

"I can speak the water language well enough to be understood," Emily offered. "I appreciate the gesture of speaking Fosk but we can speak your tongue if it would be easier for you, elder."

The old shaman looked at Emily and blinked, "I thank you for your consideration, beloved of Vassu. It is an honor to meet you, but I came to speak with this one here," he pointed his tail fingers at me.

"There is a pool on the east side of the guest village with the nicest, juiciest red-striped sandies," the old shaman sighed. "I would have stopped to indulge myself if I didn't have business here first."

"Elder," my head popped up of its own accord, "red-striped sandies? Were there many or only a few? Where is this pool? Could you show me, or would that detract from your errand? If you came to speak with me, we could talk as you showed me the way to the fish." Red-striped sand fish were one of my favorite things to eat. I would pass by five or six other schools of fish if I could eat red-striped sandies, even if I were famished.

"Garkwut is a shaman now," the old Chem said.

"He is?" I was surprised and pleased at the same time. Garkwut was one of the klm I named, nested, and raised. Then I realized what the old Chem has said. This wasn't any random elder shaman. This could only be Twalkt. He looked like an older of version of Twalkt than what I remembered. Only Twalkt would know about my addiction to red striped sandies and that I knew a former klm called Garkwut

"Twalkt?" I looked at him and his faded red spots. His beautiful shining eyes were still the same as was the tender look he gave me. "Is it really you, Twalkt?"

"You know each other?" Emily asked, looking back and forth between us.

"That tadpole, Twackl't't, sent me a message saying that the ghost of Twee was haunting the Temple of Vassu at Sils'chk, and would I please come and do something about it," Twalkt snorted. "So, ghost of Twee, do the living dead still need to eat? Those sandies did look tasty."

"Twalkt," I was off my log and twining around my old lover and teacher, happier than I had been in over twenty years. I never imagined that I would ever see or embrace Twalkt ever again, but here he was, still talking in that no-nonsense way of his.

We twined and rolled and rolled and twined, all the way to the slough bank below the guest huts, where we fell into the water laughing.

"Are the two of them going to do that all evening?" I heard Tom say from above us.

"Probably not, but even if they did," Emily chuckled, "this looks like a reunion that's over twenty years in the making. I would think nothing of it if the two of them spent the evening with each other and forgot all about us."

"That other Chem doesn't seem to be as freaked out by the ghost of Twee as the other Chem we've met," Tom remarked.

"I get the feeling that the other Chem cares more about who Twee is than what Twee is," Emily stated with one of her thinking looks on her face. "Maybe the older guy knows how to fix Twee's problem with being legally dead."

"That would certainly help," Tom concluded. "What's a red-striped sand fish? Are they big enough to catch and eat?"

"We'll have to ask Twee but he looks a bit distracted at the moment," Emily laughed again.