Surviving by Joynell Schultz

Author:Joynell Schultz [Schultz, Joynell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wet Dog Press
Published: 2019-12-30T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

I found the back entrance to the underground fortress exactly where the old woman had described to me. Follow the mud lake to the rocky cliff. Careful not to slip on the moss as you climb to the top. Underneath the top-most rock is a small crevasse that leads inside the upper worship chamber of the fortress. The room is usually empty, but you’ll want to listen for the musical chanting of their prayers before you slip inside.

From the top of the rocky cliff, and inside the crevasse, I lay on the moss beside the stone, looking into the cavern and listening to the musical voices of the Cruisians while I dried off a bit. I picked out two different voices from inside, all praying words that the teenage girl I had met at the bean-husking circle had told me about.

The girl had said, “Each and every day, we ask the magic that surrounds us for whatever it is we want most of all. Try it,” she urged me. “Tell us what it is you want most of all.”

I had laughed at her. “From where I come from, people tend to keep their deepest desires hidden. They’re afraid to ask for them out loud, for fear they won’t come true.” I had told her, realizing what a silly tradition this was, but we did it all the time. Make a wish and blow out your birthday candles, but don’t tell anyone what you wished for. And those that were religious would pray out loud the ritual prayers of the Our Father or Hail Mary, but then would pray silently for what it was they truly desired.

Beneath the rock I lay on, I heard the Cruisian prayers of health and good fortune.

“Who do you pray to?” I had asked that little girl nearly a day ago.

“Whoever will listen. Nobody in particular.”

Her grandma had clarified. “It’s more of the tradition of knowing what you want enough to voice it out loud. You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what would make you happy in the first place.”

Another very wise confession.

Beneath me on the stone ledge, the voices stopped and footsteps echoed as they trailed away. I took a deep breath. Here it was. Into the lion’s den. I pulled out the dull knife I had from husking the beans. I had asked to keep it, and they didn’t argue. This wasn’t the best weapon, but if I came across the sovereign, and if it was a matter of her or my survival, I was taking her head.

At the very least, Master Luka would help me then…that was if I couldn’t get Quaade to safety by myself.

The worship chamber beneath me was now empty, and for the first time, I voiced what I wanted out loud. “Quaade must survive. He and I have a long life ahead of us, together.”

That was it.

As simple as that.

I threw on the clothing the villagers had given me that was (thankfully) still clean in my Vainovian waterproof backpack.

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