A Standard Arises – Chapter 1

Want a taste? Here’s chapter 1 to whet your appetite.

Chapter 1

A Camp Like Any Other Camp

Ra’ah stirred the pot of simmering broth absently as he stared into the deeper shadows of the late afternoon forest. Of all the campsites that they frequented on their routes between the villages of the Amatta, this was one of his favourites. The earthy smell of evergreen forest was heavy in the air. The breeze blew cool off the higher slopes and chased away the muggy summer heat that hung heavily over the great valley floor. He could hear the deeper purr of the creek as it cascaded over falls some way up the slope, and then danced down in laughter as it sought to join with others in community, forming the great valley river many miles away.

The word “community” made him grimace, leaving a sour taste in his thoughts. It seemed like an eternity ago since he’d left his village and the community that he had grown up in. An eternity since his dissatisfaction with the life plan that had been laid on him. He knew he had disappointed many when he left. Few understood the restlessness in his spirit; fewer still understood his need to pursue that restlessness. His parents had, thankfully—although they were reluctant to let him go.

Quiet laughter brought him out of his brooding. Daskow and Angelis were laying on top of their bedrolls a little way off. Daskow was explaining clouds to the petite bard, his brows furrowed with all of the seriousness he could muster as a tutor. Angelis, however, was demanding he explain how each cloud could look like a rabbit or a deer, her goodnatured giggles mixing with his soft baritone and carrying across the clearing to blend with the creek and the breeze in a quartet that brought Ra’ah a deep sense of peace.

He hadn’t remained alone long after leaving his village. In fact, he hadn’t even made it to the next village before stumbling upon four friends camped together. It had been Ange who had immediately insisted he stay with them when he apologized for intruding. She was the most gregarious of them. Skilled in music and dance, she made her way by entertaining in marketplaces. Frequently they all had her to thank for a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs when they visited a settlement. Angelis seemed to possess endless energy for people.

Daskow was her opposite in many ways. Quiet and often withdrawn, Daskow was easily the smartest among them. Ange had once said he had left a very promising career as a tutor in the city of Kathik. Apparently he had simply heard the Call one day, packed his few belongings, and left the city. He tutored whenever he could, but never seemed to consider any offers for more permanent employment. He was always ready when the group decided to move on.

Movement through the trees brought his attention around in time to see Nebaya step into the clearing. She carried her bow and quiver loosely in her hand, a small deer draped over her shoulders. He always marvelled at the graceful strength of the group’s main hunter. Nebaya had been the most distrustful of him that first night—she also served as the group’s self-appointed protector. But once she had made up her mind about him, she fiercely adopted him as one of their own.

“Time to do your work, little slacker,” Nebaya teased as she set the dressed deer beside him. He regarded the meat thoughtfully, already working out how to divide it and which parts he would roast and which would go into the stew. “I shot you a smaller one than last time so I wouldn’t have to hear you complain,” she called out as she made her way across the clearing toward the creek.

“That last one was an elk, Neeba,” Ra’ah protested. “How was I supposed to properly prepare an entire elk in one night?”

“That elk fed us the entire week and we still had meat to sell in Cardaya!” she called from the forest. “So quit your complainin’.”

“My pack still smells of week-old meat!” Angelis chimed in from across the camp. She suddenly elbowed Daskow and pointed upward, “Oh, look, that one looks like an elk!”.

The deer was already cut up and Ra’ah was slowly turning a beautiful roast over the fire when Anatellia returned to the camp. She just suddenly appeared in the clearing from the forest, ducking under a low tree branch like the wind itself, and made a beeline to the fire like her nose was leading her. She crouched and picked up the spoon he used to stir the stew and drew off some of the simmering broth.

“Your cooking could lead a blind woman home.” She gave him a wink and a grin as she wafted the broth under her nose. “How long till we eat?”

“Soon,” Ra’ah said firmly, taking the spoon from her and stirring the pot to reveal the small chunks of deer he’d added earlier.

Anatellia looked around the camp, silently taking stock of her troop. The fifth member of the group, she was also the most enigmatic. A gifted leader and negotiator, she had given up a very promising future with her family’s silk trade to wander the length and breadth of the valley as a travelling merchant. When asked why she had given up wealth and luxury for such a simple life, she would just shrug and blame it on the Call. She was the official leader of the Five, which had become their new name when Ra’ah had joined them. As such, she was fiercely protective of them, calling them her family.

“What’s the plan?” Nebaya called from the creek side of the camp, where she was busy repairing several arrows from her quiver.

“There is something stirring in the forest.” Anatellia’s face clouded as she sat with Ra’ah beside the fire. “I thought this morning that we would make our way to Pethe, but the Call is disturbed in a way I have not felt before.”

“What do you mean?” Ra’ah felt butterflies in his stomach every time that the subject came up. He didn’t fully understand the Call himself. Where he only felt it as a kind of pull, the others seemed to regard it like a conscious force that guided them.

“There is almost a warning voice in the Call today.” Anatellia’s gaze was locked on the flames. “I’ve never felt anything like it—it’s unprecedented.”

Ra’ah stared into the fire. Tentatively he reached out with his awareness, trying to feel what the merchant sensed. The breeze picked up, stirring the flames that drew him into their dance. He was so engrossed in his meditation that he jumped when Nebaya spoke from right beside him.

“What do you sense, little cook?” she asked as she sat down.

“Nothing,” he admitted—and then realized that wasn’t entirely true. He did feel something. A nagging pressure, like an unused nerve that had suddenly been pricked. “Nothing I can understand, anyway.”

“You can hear the Wind of the Living God better than you realize,” the huntress assured him. “You just have to learn to trust. Have faith.”

“All my life I was taught that the Living God doesn’t speak that way,” Ra’ah admitted, looking sidelong at Anatellia. “That the Call was emotional immaturity.”

“And yet here you are, out with us, following the Call,” Nebaya teased gently.

The fire popped loudly, throwing embers out of the stone ring Ra’ah had carefully laid. Anatellia used her boot to snuff them out before they had a chance to cause mischief. Even as she did so, the breeze died away. T he clearing settled into a deep silence, with only the crackle of the fire and the distant creek as background.

“Anatellia…” Daskow’s voice was low and strained, carrying across the camp from where he sat reading. His head was cocked to the side as if listening.

“I hear it,” Anatellia whispered, her hand dropping to where her knife lay in a sheath at her side.

“What?” Ra’ah looked at her in alarm, straining in the sudden silence to hear what had alarmed them.

Nebaya touched his arm and put her fingers to her lips. She had the look of a feral animal as she regarded the darkness of the forest around them. He was about to ask again when he realized that the forest was silent. Completely silent. It was like the forest and all of the life in it had suddenly stood still, holding their collective breath. Nebaya slowly stood up, her eyes on her bow halfway across the clearing from them.

Ra’ah was about to speak again when darkness exploded into the clearing.

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