Half Magic | Book 2

Fifteen: The Stone of Souls

The feasting lasted late into the day. I kept being offered different foods, being introduced to different Khusuru elders, and being thanked for lifting a curse I didn't know I'd be able to do anything about. 

When we were finally allowed to drag our tired bodies to a tent to sleep, we were offered a strange suspended mat for each of us to sleep on. It was a soft fabric woven into a large rectangle, but each corner was lifted off the ground by a wooden post. After I figured out how to climb on it, it was surprisingly comfortable. It was easy to close my eyes and pretty quickly be asleep.

I had a dream that night of Bryn. I couldn't remember much of it, but I woke up with dampness around my eyes. I yawned and looked over to where Nassir and Schula were sleeping on their own suspended mats. I was the first one up for once.

I swung my feet off the mat and onto the sand, stretching and enjoying the coolness under my toes. A rare treat here in the desert, but the tent that kept the sun off the sands kept the heat from reaching it for the most part too.

I crept outside while the others slept, the sun still setting. How I woke up with such little sleep I didn't know, but I was glad for a breath of air without the whole village hovering over me. 

A line of clothing was hanging out between two other tents and I walked up to have a look. The fabrics were so light and colorful, nothing like the thick and practical things I usually wore. It reminded me a bit of the clothing in Dwellonmar, but of a more human style.

"Aoyi'ka like scarf?" 

I turned to see an old Khusuru man with an armful of more clothing to hang.

"Yes," I turned back to look at the colorful fabrics again. "They are lovely."

"Aoyi'ka take," the old man said. He pulled a light orange scarf from his arms and put down the rest. He put the scarf over my head and tied it under my braid at the base of my neck. "Aoyi'ka take. Gada make."

He pointed to himself, then the scarf, then me. 

"You made this?" I lifted the end of the scarf to inspect it closer. Tiny white flowers were embroidered on the edge. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"Keep head from ouch." The old man pointed to the top of his scalp, then up at the sky. "Sun, ouch."

"Yes, I understand." A sunburn.

"Good." He nodded curtly and picked his stack of clothing back up. "Aoyi'ka take. Good."

He walked away to another clothing line and began hanging his stack of cloth. I raised a hand to the scarf on my head and smiled. The Khusuru were pretty unafraid of me, even with my ears and lithe features. I knew I didn't look entirely human anymore, and these people didn't care at all. I could get used to that.

"Hello there, aoyi'ka."

I looked up to see Kai with a content Puko on his shoulder as he ate half a lizard. I grimaced at the lizard but smiled at Kai.

"Hello there. I didn't get to see you at all yesterday. How were you treated? Alright?" I asked.

Kai shrugged. "Better than I expected I suppose. Well today is the day. Are you ready to go to the Stone of Souls?"

"I think so," I said. "But what exactly is the stone of souls? I've heard it's name but I don't know what it is."

"Ah, they wouldn't really explain it to an outsider, would they?" Kai looked around and motioned for me to follow him to a shady patch of sand near the horse tent. It smelled, but we were alone. 

"I don't know how they will feel about me telling you, but you should at least have an idea of what you're getting into. The Stone of Souls is a huge rock face that sticks up from the sand. When a person of the sands dies, they are mourned for three days. Their stories are told and their favorite food is eaten. And then, their name is carved into the Stone of Souls. Supposedly that will allow the soul to pass to the earth, mingling with the rest of the sand people for eternity."