After another hour or two, we finally make it to the village. We pass several houses, they are all one-story houses in timber framing style. I follow Rowan directly to a certain house. I assume this is where the elder lives. A girl opens the door to greet us.

“Hey Cyma, I'm back! Is grandma home?” he asks the girl.

“Rowan, you're back early,” she answers, “the elder is home. She should have time now.”

We follow Cyma into the house. It's warm and cozy inside. And rather bright, it's much brighter than the fire in the chimney would make. Where does the rest of the light come from?

“Welcome back, Rowan,” the elder greets him, “I take it you're done with cleaning Aura's temple? You've even received their blessing already.”

“It is as you say, grandma.”

“Would you introduce your friend to me?” she turns her attention towards me.

“Of course, this is Aster. He's gotten lost and sought refuge at Aura's temple.”

“Hello, I'm Aster,” I introduce myself.

“Greetings, I'm Fezzoxa. I'm the village elder of Dewick. Everyone in the village calls me granny or elder. But Rowan is my only real grandson.

I'm sure you have a story to tell. Would you care to share it with me?”

“Of course, Rowan wanted to hear it too.”

“I see, why don't the two of you sit down? My guess is, this is going to be a longer story.”

We sit down. The girl from earlier serves us some water and immediately leaves.

“I've come from a place far, far away. I was travelling alone, when due to unforeseen circumstances, I ended up around here. To make it worse, I've lost the means of returning home. As I see it, I don't have any other choice but to start to make a living here.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I ended up in the Aura's temple. Aura and the other spirits aren't known to my people. Yet despite that, Aura granted me refuge and bestowed their blessing upon me.”

“Yes, it's a very strong blessing from what I can see.”

“When Rowan arrived, Aura asked me…”

“They have asked you to return?”

“Yes, that's right. They ask me to return on the night of the Umbral Full Moon. So you have heard of it before?”

“Yes, it has happened before. Sometimes the spirits ask select people to return on at a certain date, when they bestow those people with a special blessing.”

“Wouldn't more people just come to the temple at that date?”

“No, they don't. Some have tried, of course. But on those occasions, the spirits deny entry to everyone but those that have been invited.”

“I see. When I go there, is there anything I should be doing, or not doing? Anything superficial knowledge would help me greatly.”

“No, there isn't anything special you need to pay attention to. Why are you asking?”

“As long as I'm here, I should at least try to follow the customs of this land.”

“That's commendable! So… will you go on the pilgrimage?”

“Yes, I intend to accompany Rowan on his pilgrimage. Unless Rowan declines, of course.”

“On the contrary! I'm thrilled to have you with me,” Rowan answers, “I have the feeling, interesting things will happen when you're around.”

“Since Rowan doesn't mind, it's not my place to deny it,” Granny Fezzoxa answers, “for now, you can stay here in this house with us. If you want to settle down here after your pilgrimage, that's fine too. I think you'll find it's more comfortable to live in this village than in other places.”

I hear noises from outside.

“Let's have a feast tomorrow!” I can hear a voice saying.

“Since people are talking about it,” Rowan states, “on our way here, Aster hunted a Snow Boar!”

“Without your dismantling skills, there wouldn't be much left of it. I'm happy to give it to the village.”

“It's a rather strange to have the guest of honour provide the meat, but since you're offering, we'll accept.”

“Guest of honour?” I ask.

“Outside pilgrimage season, people rarely come here,” Granny Fezzoxa explains, “we usually welcome visitors with a feast. But it's too late for today, so we'll have it tomorrow.”

“Thank you for your hospitality. In any case, we should put this somewhere,” I point at the meat still dangling from my bag.

“Come with me,” Fezzoxa says. Rowan and I follow her to a room, that's a colder than the rest of the house. As we enter, the rooms brightens. How do they do this without electricity? Is that a blessing? We hang the meat from a pole that's spanning along the ceiling in the middle of the room. The pole has moving rings near the walls, I wonder why…

❄ ❅ ❆ ❄ ❅ ❆ ❄ ❅ ❆ ❄ ❅ ❆

Later, Cyma shows me to my room. Unlike before, this room doesn't light up. I guess the light was a blessing Fezzoxa has. Soon, she even brings me a bucket with a steaming warm water and a towel.

“Please put it in front of your door, when you're done,” she says before she leaves.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” I mutter.

“Given, there was no bath, I postulate you are supposed to wipe yourself with that.”

“I see…”

It can't beat a proper shower or even a bath, but I guess this will have to do. I undress and wipe myself.

I don't have a change of clothes with me, so I wait for the water to evaporate, put on my underwear and immediately go to bed and tuck myself below the covers. The fabric is kinda scratchy, but not much. I expected worse.

“Mittens, where are you?” I quietly ask.

“I have parked the shuttle in a forest about 5 km to the West of your location. Analyzing the shape of the forest, nobody has been here for at least a year. It is unlikely for anyone to discover it.

Later at night, I will fly around and map the area surrounding the village.”

“Thanks. Good night, Mittens.”

CC-BY 4.0 q. Thái “RPGReki” Chung
https://amau.ga/1/3/