I am both older and younger than creation. But I am no God.
“Where are you going?” Seth asked, seeing Almecho walking away from the party.
“I’m headed for the village wall.”
“Leaving your own birthday party?”
“I would stay but I can’t really stand the crowd Seth. Besides, I’ll be gone for an hour at most. These people are going to be here for another five.”
“I’ll come with you then.”
Together, the two men exited Almecho’s home that stood in the middle of the desert village. Almecho, being of the first order, was a tall, tanned, and well-built man with brown hair and eyes. He wore a plain sleeveless tunic with loose cotton pants to combat the desert heat.
His friend Seth was of the third order; as such, while being the same age as Almecho and having a similar physical build, he looked considerably older to the point he could have been easily mistaken as Almecho’s uncle by an Easterner. He wore clothes similar to Almecho’s except his were worn out compared to Almecho’s brand new garb.
“Father should really stop inviting the entire village to my birthday,” Almecho muttered, kicking a piece of stone and sending it flying.
“Well, it is your eightieth birthday after all. Also, it’s not the entire village,” Seth remarked. “Besides, the last time he did this was when you turned seventy. Let the old man celebrate, even if it’s in your name. He doesn’t have long anyway.”
“Doesn’t have long?” Almecho chuckled. “His father lived to be two hundred fifty. My father isn’t even two hundred yet. I’d say he has quite a bit of time left.”
The village wall they were headed to was a fifty feet tall and ten feet thick wall that circled the entire village. It had been built by Almecho’s great grandfather nearly half a century ago in order to lessen the damage caused to the village by sandstorms that raged in the area once a month. Since his childhood, the wall had been a place of solitude for Almecho. He would often climb up to the top and sit looking out at the desert or at the lush green hills on the opposite side. He would imagine great battles taking place in the deserts and himself fighting in it.
A warrior.
That was what he had always wanted to be. Unfortunately, his father was the Chief of their village and Almecho was in line to inherit his father’s job, something he did not look forward to.
“My father is a great fighter,” Almecho said. He paused to acknowledge a birthday greeting from a woman passing by, then continued, “He could singlehandedly defeat all the fighters in this village.”
“Well, being a first order helps, considering you are naturally stronger than the rest of us,” Seth commented.
“That aside, I don’t see why he chooses to be the Chief. It is nothing but meetings and diplomatic talks.”
“He may be a great fighter but his responsibility is to this village and its people. If he has to sit through hours long meetings to ensure this village’s prosperity then he should. And he has, splendidly. Your father is one of the finest leaders we have ever had. He oversaw the road construction to Sherman, had a river’s course redirected so that it flowed a few minutes’ walk from our village, established a trade relation with the Rowshnab village by the sea down south. It is thanks to him you get to enjoy a lobster every now and then.”
“Hearing all that makes me feel like a failure.”
“You haven’t had a chance to prove yourself as a capable leader yet. You’re already in the same league as your father when it comes to sparring. Now, when your father steps down and you’re made Chief, I’m sure you won’t disappoint us.”
“Don’t blame me if the lobsters stop coming to Raganad,” Almecho said with a grin.
“When you put it like that, I can’t help but pray for our village’s future.”
Almecho chuckled but said nothing. While he may joke about being the Chief, he often gave much thought to it. Like Seth had said, his father was an impeccable leader. Almecho often found himself thinking if he could live up to be the man his father was.
“By the way, did you see that girl at the party?” Seth asked. They rounded a corner and entered a path that led straight to the wall ahead. Overhead, the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows on the path they walked on.
“What girl?”
“That girl with the red hair. She was staring at you all the while you were there?”
“Do you mean that girl from Lahamrab who arrived here yesterday?”
“Yes, that girl. She is very beautiful. Considering how she was staring at you, I’d wager she’s interested in you. You should court her.”
“Not unless she’s of the first order. My father wouldn’t allow me to court any woman of a lower status. He says we have to keep the bloodline pure. My father may be a good leader but he can be incredibly old fashioned. It’s really frustrating at times.”
“You could always court her and leave her when your father arranges your marriage with some daughter of his friend.”
“I would rather stay single than do that to a woman Seth,” Almecho replied. Was his friend getting senile?
“I was joking. That would be a horrible thing to do to any woman.”
They had walked for a few metres when a voice greeted them.
“Hello! If it isn’t Almecho!”
Up ahead on the road, dressed in a regular brown tunic and pants stood Amelia, the village doctor. She was two decades older than the two men but looked somewhere between Almecho and Seth in terms of age.
“Not going to the party Amy?” Almecho asked. Despite the age difference, the woman was good friends with the two men.
“I have a patient to take care of. Somya’s little girl. She has a very high fever,” she replied.
“She’s still sick?” Almecho asked, concerned. Despite a fair number of people living in the village, he knew almost every one because of his position as the Chief’s heir.
“Yes. The scorpion sting has gotten worse. I’ve applied some antiseptic to the wound and given her some lomatek solution to help with the fever but we really need to give her some antidote quickly.”
“What happened to Arnold? Has he not returned from Lahamrab with the medicine?”
“If he had, the girl would be at her home and I would be at your party. Speaking of which, why aren’t you there?”
“I wanted to get some air. A hall full of hundreds of people can get very hot and stuffy.”
“We’ll be back there in an hour. Although they’ll hardly miss us with all the alcohol available,” Seth added.
Amy shook her head. “Looks like I will be treating half the village tomorrow for their hangover. Also, I hope Arnold returns quickly with the antidote. The sooner we give it to her, the better. To think I let myself run out of that thing before buying more of it. I’m growing careless.”
“Don’t worry. Old age catches up to us all eventually,” Almecho quipped. In return, he received a punch on the shoulder from Amy.
“We’ll drop by to see how she’s doing on our way back,” Seth said.
“Yes, that would be great. She really wanted to go to your party. To see the ‘young chief’ as she puts it. Seeing you should lift her spirits up,” Amy answered. “I should head back too. I came out to see if I could buy some watermelons but the shop’s closed.”
“The owner is probably back at my house. I’ll send someone with watermelons that we have at our home,” Almecho said.
“Thank you. Alright, I’m off then!”
With a wave, Amy walked into an alley and disappeared behind a door. Almecho and Seth resumed their walk towards the wall.
“Didn’t Arnold leave three days ago? He should have been back by now,” Almecho said.
“It isn’t like him to be absent for this long. Not when a child’s life is in danger,” Seth replied. “Maybe you should send someone Lahamrab to check and bring back the medicine if something has happened to him.”
“I’ll talk to father as soon as I return. Maybe I’ll go myself. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”
In a short while they had arrived at the base of the wall. The brown structure loomed over them casting a large shadow that extended past several houses. The sky above it was beginning to turn red; night would arrive soon.
“You want us to climb up using the footholds?” Seth asked.
“Yes. It’s more fun that way. Besides, now you’ll have to walk for another ten minutes if you want to take the stairs,” Almecho replied with a grin.
“You sly bastard … last one to the top is a tub of lard then!”
With that, Seth launched himself as high as he could. Grabbing the jutting stones, he began climbing upwards. Almecho followed close behind.
“Hey, that wasn’t fair, starting a challenge like that!”
“Well, it’s not fair that we’re the same age and you look and have the strength of a twenty year old!”
They climbed up rapidly, like spiders climbing up a wall. They had climbed this wall many times in the past and were very experienced at it. A fall, even from the very top, would slightly wound Seth and only bruise Almecho. But they would not fall. They never had.
Three minutes later, Almecho pulled himself up the edge of the wall. Seth followed a few seconds later.
“See, even with a head start, I still lost,” Seth said.
“Don’t feel so badly about it. The Easterners would never even make it halfway.” Almecho walked to the other edge of the wall and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge. Seth sat down beside him.
“I wish I could save this image in my mind forever,” Almecho muttered. The sun was beginning to touch the horizon; the sky around it had gone completely red. The clouds around it had been painted pink and orange.
“I’ve heard watching the sun set over hills and mountains are prettier.”
“I’ll judge that for myself when I see it.”
“You never once saw it when you went over to Sherman?”
Almecho shook his head. “I was busy researching about my dreams.”
“Your dreams … have you had them lately?”
“Yes. I had one last night. The same events. It’s starting to drive me insane Seth. I’ve had the same dream for over thirty years and I’m no closer to understanding it. I know the words uttered by those beasts by heart and yet I have no idea what it means. I don’t even know what those two beasts are, only that they’re black and white.”
“Has Amy uncovered anything regarding it? She has been ordering a whole lot of books from the East.”
“I don’t think so. She would have let me know otherwise.” Almecho clutched the amulet hanging around his neck. “I know it has something to do with this amulet. It started after I received this.”
“Did you ask your father about it?”
“I described the dream to my father and asked if he knew of it. He said no. I don’t think he knows anything about it. He would have surely warned me about it when giving me the amulet otherwise. I haven’t told him it’s a recurring dream though.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll discover something eventually.”
“With three decades and no answer, I think it’s actually time I started worrying about it a little. It’s not–” Almecho paused, staring hard at the horizon. He stood up suddenly, prompting Seth to do the same.
“What is it?” Seth asked.
“There in the distance!” Almecho held a hand in front of him in order to shield his eyes from the setting sun.
Seth followed his gaze. “I don’t see anything.”
“It’s a person. On a horse.” Almecho looked around, scanning the wall’s perimeter. “Did father invite the wall watchers to the party?”
“I think so.”
Almecho turned his gaze back to the horizon. He gasped.
“It’s a man. He’s wounded!”
ns 15.158.61.48da2
