“Wake up, Desh,” a soft, sweet voice called out from far away.
Desh’s golden eyes opened and he was surprised to find that he was lying in a dark, cool room. As he sat up he realized he was back home and in his bed underneath the basement stairs. There had been room in the main house above ground for his bed but he had preferred the cool, dark basement.
He had a nagging sense he was forgetting something extremely important. As he rubbed his face with his hands, he tried to think of the dream he had been having. Something about a desert and a man who could command the wind. That would make him a windbringer but he thought that the man was very unlike a windbringer.
“You don’t want to be late for your lessons.”
The panic of being late pushed any thoughts of the dream out of his mind and he leapt out of bed. He scrabbled for his pants and slipped them on while walking to the stairs that led up to the main floor of the house.
Like most houses in the city of light, the main floor was an open floor plan. The doors to the courtyard were open, the better to let in sunlight. His eyes quickly adjusted to the light and he began to look around the room for his books. He realized his mother was standing at the entrance to the courtyard with his books in her arms. She also had a small paper package tied with twine, obviously a meal prepared to take with him.
His mother was a short, plump woman with a kind face and tired eyes. They were a pale yellow, almost the color of wheat. Desh had gotten his brighter, golden eyes and his darker gray skin from his father. Her skin was much lighter but still gray enough to identify her as Arkatuan by sight.
She had been sick for quite a while now. Despite her constant fatigue she always managed to take care of him. Once he left for his lessons,however, she would spend most of the day lying down and trying to recover her strength.
“You know they don’t like us to bring food anymore,” he said as he jogged up to her and grabbed the books. There were three of them bound together with a leather strap. He slung them over his shoulder and held them by the strap.
“Well, then you can eat them before school. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” The woman gave him a playful wink and he tried his best to act disinterested. His goal was to one day become a lightbringer and that meant he would eventually have to learn to receive all of his sustenance from the sun. It took a lot of practice and it didn’t help when she was constantly trying to give him delicious food. However, the smell of fresh baked flatbread made his stomach rumble.
“Thanks,” he said with fake annoyance, and took the paper package from her. By the shape he could tell she’d made him wraps. Previous history indicated they would be filled with roasted vegetables and a delicious cream based sauce that was his favorite. With books and food in hand, he went to leave but his mother grabbed his shoulder.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” There was a smile on her face as she bent over to lean down closer to him.
He grumbled before turning around and pressing a quick kiss into her cheek.
“Good boy. Now hurry along. You know the elder hates it when you are late.”
He moved quickly to leave, noting the time on the wall. Luckily his mother had woken him up early enough that he’d be able to eat his food and dispose of the paper before classes started. He jogged through the busy streets and made his way to the temple.
The city of light was one of the largest cities in the world and it served as the capital of the Arkatuan empire. There was no city closer to the sun. The land sunward of the city was a vast, inhospitable desert. There, potential lightbringers made their pilgrimages to stand directly before Arkatu and receive his direct blessing. Desh hoped to make the journey himself one day. For now he had to continue training both his body and his mind.
The city was shaped like a crescent. In the very center stood the golden temple, the largest single place of worship for Arkatu in the entire world. The closer one lived to the temple often denoted their status. The richest and most successful Arkatuan’s lived just blocks away from the temple. Those at the outer edges tended to be new converts and the less fortunate. On account of Desh’s father having been a well known lightbringer, Desh and his family lived somewhere in the middle. All of their needs were met on account of his father having died in the Great War.
For the most part the buildings and streets were crafted with sandstone taken from quarries in the desert. Their bright colors reflected the light and made the air feel warm. Many visitors balked at the incessant heat of the city. Desh had never known anything different and he loved the way the warm stones felt on his bare feet and the feel of the sun on his exposed chest and back. Like most boys his age he wore only a loose pair of light colored pants out of modesty. The older men tended to favor loincloths.
He arrived near the temple and saw other children his age meandering in. A quick detour was taken into a park beside the temple where he quickly ate both of the wraps his mother had made for him. They were delicious, of course. Once he was done he carefully folded the paper and hid it away in his pocket out of shame. Then he joined the procession of students entering the temple.
Like most other temples, this one was built as a small amphitheater that was recessed down into the ground. Once you were seated you would feel cut off from the noise of the city around you but there was no roof. There was a stage with a small pulpit. Behind the stage a single twisted tree with white bark grew upwards. Such trees were commonly planted as a sign that all life had originally come from the sun.
Worshippers sat directly in the heat of the sun while they contemplated the nature of Arkatu and his benevolence. Normally this contemplation was guided by no particular person. Other gods had priests but any follower of Arkatu was invited to come up and share their blessings or concerns. They would walk down to the stage and share their personal feelings with the other congregants.
During the time of teaching, however, an elder would stand on the stage and provide lessons for the children in subjects religious and otherwise. The Arkatuan faith dictated that the sun was the source of all energy and life. So it was that every science and history was taught from the ideological lens that they were, in essence, their own form of worship. Science was the study of how Arkatu’s world worked. History was the study of how he had shaped the world through his life giving power.
Other religions did not hold this view. However, Arkatuans didn’t argue and they didn’t evangelize. Converts were rare but there were a few fairer skinned people in the city who had come to understand the light god’s omnipotence and were as welcome in the faith as any other.
This particular temple could hold roughly 100 congregants but there were roughly 30 children of various ages who attended lessons for this area. If a child showed enough proficiency in their faith then they would be sent to the larger temples closer to the middle of the city. Desh wanted more than anything to be selected like his father before him. Unfortunately, he had been mediocre at best when it came to his prayers.
He was one of the last students to sit down. Luckily he made it before the clock on the wall chimed the beginning of the lessons. Today’s speaker made his way down to the stage and took his spot.
Today it was Dosin, one of the oldest elders alive. Long ago he had been a tall, strong lightbringer. Time had shrunk him down and made his back crooked. His dark gray stomach was the only place on him that held any fat. It protruded over the hem of the loincloth that clung to his bony hips. His beard had grown long and yellowed while his hair had receded all the way back on his head. Once bright and resilient, his eyes were now a dull bronze color. However, there was a certain cunning still held within them that spoke of the danger he once posed.
His lessons were usually about history, especially wars. His retelling of the Great War had been one of Desh’s favorites.There was quiet, excited chatter as the students looked forward to another dramatic retelling of a battle.
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