Dark Clouds (NaNoWriMo 2022)

1.11.22

Chapter One

My name is Samsinukikan.

I am a member of the A'Nuki people of Selanta.

Now, I must leave.

The A'Nuki people are quite reserved; we are mysterious to those outside our tribe. We are also reserved in and of ourselves. We don't talk about feelings. We know chopping wood and archery practice, but not feelings. We have been here, in this forest near the Petrochian border, for a very long time. Longer than most others. Our tribe dates back to the Old Ones, where we were blessed by the goddess Artuki, the daughter of Selanta. She has graced us with fertility in both our land and our children, and she taught the first of us archery. She gave us the wolf-dog, our loyal, equal companions.

I am called Sams, or Samsi by my family. There was me, the many animals on our farm, Mother, Aunt, and Grandfather Samsi. I am named after him. Father died when I was young, but I believe that in his death, he gifted me Chann, my wolf-dog. He was just a pup then, but now he is taller than me when he stands on his hind legs. He has pure black fur and the same bronze eyes as me. Sometimes, I feel as though he's the only one who truly understands me, even though he can't talk.

All my life, I have been different from the others in the tribe. Aunt almost dropped me when I was coming out of Mothers womb because she could feel the otherness radiating from me. It was later found that I have Magic. Many people across the country have Magic, but none in our tribe. The pure absence of Magic from our lands compared to the magic dripping out of my fingertips, everyone has been able to tell that I'm different. Oddly, Chann has helped with my Magic and has helped me learn to conceal it, but with no one around to teach me, I don't know as much as the basics.

Grandfather Samsi didn't understand Magic, but he saw me as powerful for it, even after the incident. Mother is scared of my Magic, even though she always denied it. And Aunt . . . she didn't fear my Magic, she feared *me*. I can tell that if it were up to her, I would've been fed to the foxes as soon as my umbilical cord was cut.

They're gone now. I don't like to talk about it.

"We need to leave, now!" I yell, running up the stairs. Chann is outside, doing I don't know what. I ran up to the attic. I was never allowed up here alone before, but now there's no one to stop me. I wiped the tears from my eyes as quickly as they appeared.

There's a chest up here, somewhere. Grandfather Samsi told me about it, but I've never seen it before. He said it was layered in bronze and very small, almost pocket-sized. He told me that I'd know when it was time. Did he know that something like this was going to happen? I shake my head--no time to think about that right now.

There it is!

I rush over to the little corner it's been tucked into. It shined softly in the grey light from the window.

Carefully, I open it.

. . . What?

I hear Chann bark from outside. We need to go, and now I know where we're going.

"We're heading for the capital of Petroch," I tell Chann. Aunt always said that he's 'just a wolf-dog' and 'he can't understand you!' but I believe that he can, somehow. As we walk down the path through the forest, he cocks his head and looks up at me with big bronze eyes, questioning me, which validates my beliefs.

I hold up a finger and stop in the path, pulling the small chest out from underneath my cloak. Chann goes to sniff at it, but I shoo him away with my hand. I open it.

Inside, at the bottom, is maybe a dozen shards of dark glass. Above them is a letter. I show it to Chann.

"It says that these shards of glass are invaluable, and that they must be delivered to the King and Queen of Petroch when the time is right," I explain. "It looks like Grandfather Samsi's handwriting..."

Chann nudges me. I continue.

"If any time is the right time, it's now. I know that crossing the border is dangerous, but I need to."

I am from the East Union of Selanta, which is bordered by the Great Lands of Petroch, Orden, and The Great Pass. My tribe lives in the south-west, near the border with Petroch, but that does not make crossing the border any easier. Currently, Selanta and Petroch are at war. They have been rivals for eternity due to territory disputes and their conflicting beliefs. Selanta initiated the war, as they believe they're finally standing up and getting their land back.

The A'Nuki people stay out of politics and war, so I myself am neutral on this conflict.

Chann and I walk quietly through the woods, knowing that we are nearing the border. We have to duck and swerve and lift ourselves over various obsticles, as there are no paths this far out in the forest. We have been walking for a day now.

Luckily, since this part of the border is simply all woods, there isn't as heavily guarded as other areas. Still, from what I have heard, there's still a fence and some archers that will shoot on site.

My wolf-dog and I slow even more as the trees thin out, and then there's a clearing. We both observe quietly from the brush. A small fence lines the border--I can fit through and Chann could jump over it. Up and down the line, there are only two archers I can see.

I look at Chann.

Taking a deep breath, I channel the Magic I can to attempt to create a sort of invisible cloak to conceal Chann and I.

Then we make a run for it.