Eizod Daemon doubted that the ritual would do anything for his child but avoiding it was out of the question. Tradition was law in a place like the Kingdom of Aglora, where the endless night brought the wildest dreams out from the soberest of heads. Nobody knew for sure what could be out in the dark. There were as many beliefs as there were people; tradition was a way to unify them. 

 

"Careful, Boss," Aftar said as he pulled the reins of his mollope. He pointed up to the trees. "Can you see those conks?" 

 

There was enough light that night, and Eizod saw the platform-like mushrooms growing out from the stone trees. The Mother-moon was full that night; her two sub-moons were full too, as if they were fighting against the dark together. 

 

"We are about to enter a risky area. There may be conks like these further into the forest, but much bigger — the fenuthar fancy them for nesting," said Aftar. "We will have to go around if we want to avoid them. We need to find a safer path." 

 

Eizod turned to face the procession of the Neemain tribe. His wife Alennia awaited among them on a litter carried by her cousins. Her long blonde hair was fixed in numerous braids with wooden and metallic charms. Her skin was pale from generations of living in the Nightlands. Her expression revealed exhaustion from the journey, and her belly was round and big. 

 

"How long will it take us to reach the sacred springs?” Eizod asked Aftar. 

The mercenary juggled calculations inside his head. "About two photocycles at this pace. Maybe three if we have to take a long detour." 

 

"We should rest then. We need it." Eizod lifted his hand and ordered with a martial tone, "Halt! It's time to set camp." 

 

The people sighed with relief. They laid down their supplies and prepared to relax. They halted in a disorderly manner, but they were keen on taking time for the family. The Neemain wasn't a tribe of warriors. It was taking Eizod a lot of work to train them in military combat and guerrilla warfare. A year wasn't enough to turn farmers into raiders, but the King of Aglora was impatient to raise an army for the looting of the Daylands, and for that, he needed people from all the tribes of Aglora. 

 

"Aftar, I'll send two people to explore with you. They must practice their teamwork," said Eizod. 

 

"Roger that." 

 

"Denon! Enwli!" 

 

The tribe's best two hunters rode closer. "Yes, my Lord," they said as they arrived. 

"Accompany Aftar to explore. Do as he says." 

 

"Yes, my Lord. Who else should accompany us?" said Denon. 

 

"Nobody else. It will only be you," said Eizod. 

 

Denon and Enwli looked at each other to make sure they heard correctly. 

They knew the path. Multiple Neemain babies had been born under the light of the giant mushrooms in the sacred springs, but searching for safe passage in the everchanging environment usually required a minimum of seven people, just for the sake of security. 

 

"Small parties move faster," reiterated Aftar. "I want to be done by dinner. I see that you've got your lights. Do you have weapons?"  

 

"Yes, sir," answered Denon and Enwli. 

 

"Good! Let's go." 

 

Aftar led the way, and the exploration party rode into the dark. Their lights looked like ghostly fireflies chasing after each other. 

 

Eizod dismounted. His mollope rubbed his black hair affectionately with the fuzzy appendages that grew out of its muzzle like an anemone. Eizod gave it a truffle, found a good spot for it to rest and went on to look after his wife. The smell of cooking and fire-sap rocks hit his senses. He felt comforted by the songs of those who enjoyed livening up chore times. That would be a suitable environment for his family — as long as the Neemain tribe continued to move into the unification of the kingdom of Aglora, they would be too isolated otherwise. 

 

Eizod reached Alennia and gave her a wineskin full of water. "How are you handling it, my light." 

 

She took a long sip. "I am fine, my Lord. I am just tired." 

 

He kissed her on the lips and put his ear to her belly. "How is little Yannas doing?" 

 

"Well, they're still a mystery." Alennia's expression was suddenly one of worry. 

 

"What is it?" 

 

"What if I am not a good mother?" 

 

"What makes you say that?" 

 

Alennia clenched a wooden charm between her hands. She had been praying for her fears not to be true. "Don’t think ill of me, my Lord, but although I feel connected to this baby, I don’t know much about it like mothers should. I can’t feel if it will be a boy or a girl. I can’t know if it is happy or sad. I even fear that it may be stillborn. Sometimes I feel a kick, and then I realize that I was holding my breath while waiting for a sign of life. I feel that there is something wrong, something different.” She took a long breath, then she smiled to cheer herself up and laughed at the absurdity of her thoughts. “Well, everything seems to be fine, so it must be just me.” 

​

Eizod wrapped his arms around Alennia, trying to shield her from that fear which wasn’t hers only. “Don’t worry, my light. We have never seen this child before. Maybe no parent knows a child until it is born. Everything is going to be okay.” 

​

“Old Mother says that the divine Dartara has given every woman a natural ability to connect to life, yet I don’t know anything about the life inside me.” 

​

“Shush. Don’t mind her about that. She’d rather listen to her wooden figurines than to scholars.” 

 

“Eizod! That is so disrespectful.” 

 

Eizod smiled playfully. 

 

“What are you laughing at?” said Alennia. 

 

“You called me by my name.” 

 

“By Dartara! I didn’t mean to do so, my Lord.” 

 

“Don't worry about protocol. I married a wonderful woman, not a treaty." 

 

"But I am part of a treaty." 

 

Eizod came closer to her ear, as if to tell her a secret. "So am I. It doesn't matter." 

 

The smile that Alennia had just drawn on her face was short-lived. She eyed over her husband's shoulder. Old Mother was approaching. 

 

The Neemain matriarch was an old lady with long white, curly hair and a long white tunic. Numerous wooden and quartz charms hung from her neck and wrists. These characteristics, along with her ashen skin and silver eyes, made her look like a ghost. She held a basket covered with pelts with a caution bordering in apprehension. 

 

"Excuse me, Lord Daemon, I must have a word with the mother-to-be." She emphasized the name Daemon, remarking that he came from outside of the Neemain's life. 

 

"With due respect, Old Mother, I am still checking on my wife." 

 

"It can't wait. It is a Neemain tradition and a women's business. I must assess her." 

 

Eizod was angry and frustrated with Old Mother's meddling presence. She didn't have problems when the King first sent him to train the Neemain for the raids. He brought the protection of the King, but Old Mother had also told him that he had brought in the idea of going back to the Daylands. She was hopeful, then he and Alennia fell in love and conceived a child. 

 

Integrating an outsider into the tribe's ways involved a more personal relationship. Old Mother had to know about Eizod's whereabouts, and that was when she learned about Eizod's bloodline. Lord Eizod Daemon was the son of the King's sorcerer, Lord Anphol Daemon, son of Dahagan the Blasphemous, a man exiled to the dark for fraternizing with Fenut, the hateful god. 

 

Since then, Old Mother had wanted to shun Eizod, but the treaty with the kingdom made it a delicate matter; to break it would be to defy the King. Her control over the tribe was weakening. 

 

Alennia touched Eizod's hand softly. "It's okay, my Lord. This is important for us." 

 

Eizod felt a fist clenching his stomach and eyed Old Mother with resentment. 

 

"I'll be waiting," he said. "Don't take too long, my light. You must eat something." 

Eizod saw Old Mother guide Alennia into her tent of cloth and pelts. Dew lamps illuminated the inside with orange and pale blue tones. There was an altar with a sculpture of a blindfolded woman with blood on her face. Alennia had taught him that it represented Enlightened-Deella, Neemain's first matriarch. 

​

Eizod paced around nervously at the edge of the forest. He had not been so uncomfortable about other people's beliefs before. Eizod knew about many gods and spirits thanks to the high education that his father had provided him, so he was able to deal with the most diverse people without having to get involved with their beliefs, but it was impossible to remain indifferent now. He felt that the Neemain mysticism about Enlightened-Deella and the sacrifice of her eyes could be harmful to his child, but he couldn't point his finger at how. 

​

A rare sight caught Eizods attention. There were plenty of crude spores shimmering on the trees around the camp, which meant that an animal from the deep forest might be near. It would be highly unusual considering the path and the number of people around. Something must have lured it out. 

​

Eizod heard a scream. He turned to see where it came from. A fenuthar had jumped a man. The man’s chest bled under paws as wide as his ribcage. It was a huge scaly beast with a thick tail double its size. A bushy mane dusty with bioluminescent pollen crowned its fierce head. Its two yellow almond eyes had pupils that grew as wide as the eye and as narrow as a slit. Its long fangs were red with blood. 

​

The mollopes screeched and cried. Some of them broke their reins and ran away. The people panicked. Some ran down the path in the direction of the springs, and others went the opposite way. The men and women who had trained the better took the lead and helped regroup the clan. Those with a fighting temper grabbed sticks, stones, and weapons to attack the beast. 

​

The fenuthar sniffed the air in the direction of Old Mother's tent and crept that way while the people threw rocks at it. Eizod sprinted towards Old Mother's tent and tore the door open. "Get out! We must get you to safety!" 

 

"Lord Daemon! What is the meaning of this?" shouted Old Mother. 

​

"A  fenuthar came out of the forest! It must have been stalking us! Follow me!" Eizod looked down and saw an obsidian-blue fenuthar egg. That must have been what lured it from the forest. His face became red with rage.

 

"Leave that there! Do not touch it! The fenuthar is looking for it!" 

 

Eizod carried Alennia. Her expression was one of confusion and pain. "Eizod! My cramps, it hurts!" 

 

"Hang in there, my light! Hang in there!" 

 

Eizod ran and saw Aftar, Denon and Enwli approaching. They were back. 

 

"What is happening?" asked Enwli. 

 

"You and Aftar, take her to the springs! Now!" 

Enwli held Alennia as firmly as she could and rode towards the springs with Aftar. Denon stayed behind with Eizod. 

 

"Denon, get your bow! Cover me!" 

Eizod ran back to the tent and snatched the egg. He ran towards the beast. The emboldened crowd besieged the fenuthar. The fenuthar clawed at the nearest tribesman, maiming him for life. 

 

"Stop! Stop right now!" Eizod made his way through the crowd. He punched some people that were too excited to notice him. Denon rode behind him with his bow ready to fire at the beast. 

 

Eizod reached the spot between the crowd and the creature. The rabble became silent little by little. Eizod listened to the fenuthar's breath. 

​

"Here is your baby." Eizod carefully placed the egg on the ground. He took small steps backwards while slowly unsheathing his sword. 

 

The fenuthar sniffed the egg carefully; drops of blue blood from its wounds dripped on it. The beast opened its big mouth full of teeth to hold it gently and ran back into the dark. 

​

Eizod sighed in relief, then he turned back and saw the baffled faces of the crowd. They cheered for him and gave him pats on the back. Eizod didn't care. He wanted to behead Old Mother; it didn't matter if she was an elder. He had a lapse of consciousness and quickly climbed on Denon's mollope. 

​

"Let's catch up with the others!" 

​

The springs were not that far at a running mollope's pace. Eizod was able to set a small camp there for Alennia. He took her into the thermal springs to help her relax. She panicked frequently. 

​

"There is something wrong, I know. There must be a curse." 

​

"There is no curse, my love. Relax." 

​

"This can't be good, Eizod. My water — my water broke, and it was blue."

 

Eizod became pale. He called Enwli for assistance and told her not to leave Alennia's side at any moment, and then he went to Aftar. 

​

"How is it going, boss?" asked the mercenary. 

 

"Aftar, I need you and Denon to help to regroup the tribe and bring them through the long way." 

 

Aftar looked confused. "Are you sure, boss? I don't think it is safe. The missus will need the midwife."

 

"Enwli will have to do." Eizod took a deep breath. "Alennia says that her water was blue." 

 

Aftar looked surprised. "It’s difficult to see the colour of liquids. Are you sure it isn’t panic?” 

“No, I’m not sure, but I don’t want the others to believe it. I don’t want superstitious fear to build on the tribe. My child’s life could be in danger if it did.” 

 

“I understand.” 

 

Aftar and Denon did as Eizod ordered, which gave the warrior enough time to assist his wife. She was rambling. 

“I’m so confused,” she said on one occasion. “My mind is dark. I don’t know what is good and what is evil. I must be a sinner. Maybe I should sacrifice my light like Enlightened-Deella.”

 

“Don’t, my light. Don’t. I love your eyes.” 

​

Later, she said, “It must be your blood. You are the son of a sorcerer. This will be a child of Fenut. Old Mother told me so. That must be the reason.” 

​

Eizod’s heart became heavy. It didn’t matter how much he loved Alennia; her traditional fears were still there, snatching her away from him. 

​

The cramps became more vigorous, and with that, the fear. “Oh Eizod, I’m so sorry. I love you. I love this child. Please don’t let us die.” 

​

Eizod supported Alennia’s back while Enwli took care of the legs. They helped her stay afloat under the brightest spot, right under the giant mushrooms.

 

“Something is wrong! Something is wrong!” cried Alennia. 

​

“There’s nothing wrong, cousin,” said Enwli, trying to calm her down. “You are under the light. You are safe.” 

Alennia clenched Eizod’s hand as she screamed, and then she finally felt that she could breathe. 

 

“It’s a boy!” Announced Enwli as she gave the baby to the new parents.

 

Eizod’s heart rate rose when he saw his son covered in purplish blood, a telltale sign of an inhuman child. He took a look while Alennia fed him. His hair was black like his, but the skin was worse than pale, almost grey. Eizod touched his son's face to check for warmth, and the baby opened his eyes. His irises were silver-grey like his mother’s, but his pupils were slits, like Fenut’s. 

 

He and his family would have to leave the tribe behind. Their life was in danger.