Corlin

Once again, I didn’t sleep. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

My head was still running like a fast deer.

How can someone here even sleep knowing that demons lurk around every night?

Well, Aisla said that it is not every night that they attack, but even so...

- You two lazy buns, come on, let's eat... - I heard my mother shouting from the kitchen.

- Come on Corlin, let's go - Aisla said, looking at me.

Then I slowly followed her out of our bedroom.

'Demons... how come demons exist? Why haven't nobody told me until now? What is even..'

Suddenly, a voice interrupted my thoughts. It was my mother's voice.

- Boy, what are you planning to achieve standing still like that? Don't tell me that you are training to be a tower again, I've told this before, we are people, not buildings... -

My sister had already sat on the chair at the table, and my mother was cutting some vegetables behind the counter. Only now that I noticed that I've been standing up for quite some time..

- Yes, mother - I said while pulling a chair of my own to sit..

My mother looked at me as if she was watching a stranger sit at our table.

- What in the seven heavens happened to you? - She said.

As I was opening my mouth to speak,  Aisla stepped hard on my foot under the table.

- I just... Arghh... ahh.. nothing really, just had a nightmare last night.. -

As I looked to the side, Aisla was giving me a ferocious look, I could almost tell she was thinking something like "Be quiet damnit!".

- I hope you didn't get the fever that has been going around... - Said my mother. 

- Anyway, you two, the moonlight festival is only a few weeks away now, and the chief said he will reward everyone who helps with bread this time. I'm gonna need you to work hard there, ok? -

As she was approaching the table, she carried two plates, both mine and Aisla's.

Each of our plates had two pieces of a red vegetable and one piece of a green one, it barely filled half of a plate that was already small.

She continued to put the plates on the table.

- This.. I will get something good for our dinner today, okay? - She said.

As my mother was saying this, I looked over at her plate that was still over the counter, she only had one piece of green vegetable.

'There is no use in offering some of my food, she never takes it' I thought to myself.

- Mom, this is enough for us, you know that Corlin and I don't eat much - Said Aisla.

After lunch, mom left the house. Today she would try to collect some supplies in the woods, she said something about exchanging them later for food.

As soon as her figure was disappearing from our view, I heard an impatiente voice by my side.

- Corlin! We shouldn’t speak about Demons and Warriors lightly! - Said Aisla.

- But Aiai.. - I couldn’t finish.

She looked at me, and her face turned from angry to worried, then finally to kind. She didn’t say anything for some seconds, then she sighed- Alright Corlin, you probably heard some rumours about the initiation, didn’t you? - She asked.

- Yes, I heard some. - I replied.

- Do you remember that the Loster brothers and some other kids were taken away by uncle Gair to see the village chief, don't you? - Asked her.

- Yes... so? They missed all the fun, but there was something there, wasn’t it? - I told her.

- Yes, Corlin. The moonlight festival isn't just fun and dance, it is the only night in the whole year where we can go out of our houses, and as the tradition goes, everybody who completed 13 moonlights is initiated... - Aisla continued to speak.

While I was deeply furrowing my brows trying to understand this, my sister stopped.

- '13 moonlights' means 13 years, Corlin. I told you that you should read more... - She kept going.

- I knew this! I was just remembering the beauty of the stars and the night sky... - I was saying with a solemn face.

- Urgh.. alright, during the initiation, the village chief explains the truths about the world, he also tests our abilities in different fields -

- Warriors, builders, physicians, helpers... he will tell you your designation there, and starting from that point, you will train so that one day that will be your profession.

'So that is how they decide who can be a fighter...'

My sister has always been so smart and dedicated, I bet she was chosen to be a physician or a builder.

- And what was your result Aiai? - I had to ask.

- I was... I am training to be a helper... - She trailed off, visibly upset.

- Helpers are responsible to assist other professions with minor tasks or manual work, and when we have nothing of the sort, we go out in the wilds to find supplies or food. It's what mom and most of the village do. - She said, looking down.

- Fighters and physicians are the most difficult ones, I heard that roughly only one in twenty people are selected for one of these two. They are... - My sister kept going.

- Aiai - I said interrupting her, wearing my most resolute face.

- What is it, Corlin? - She asked.

- Will.. will you help me train to become a fighter?