Children of the First

So here's the new chapter, finally. It turns out that most of what I had planned for it didn't even come up; this one had a mind of it's own and I'm really happy how it turned out. It ended up being pretty tricky to write, demanding a lot of revision and whatnot, but it was worth it. The guest chapter(s?) is/are still in the works, but it should be pretty cool. The next chapter should be up some time around Saturday, barring unforeseen California Craziness. Thanks for bearing with me as things go wonky.

“Hey, Roo, would you grab my kori for me?” Retis asked.

Roo took the hollow seed-cone thing out of Retis’ desk drawer and handed it to him.

“You smoke Swiftreed too, Roo?” I asked.

“Yeah, every once in a while. Why?”

“’Cause he’s never smoked before,” said Retis.

“Ahhh,” Roo grinned. “This’ll be fun, then.”

I reminded myself that they were my friends, not characters from the anti-drug movies we had to watch in high school; they weren’t out to poison me or anything like that. Still, I was a little nervous about smoking, and they weren’t helping.

I tried to relax as Retis packed the kori and lit it, taking two long drags and passing it to Roo.

Roo had his own style, I guess; he hit it faster than Retis, pulling the flame deep into the cone and exhaling quickly. He gave a couple of good coughs, then smiled through watery eyes. “’Ere ya go,” he said, handing me the kori. I took it and glanced at Retis; he was still smiling at me, but it was gentler than before—encouraging rather than devious. I took a deep breath and put the kori to my lips.

“Exhale before inhale, kin,” Retis chuckled.

That was embarrassing. I exhaled, brought the kori back to my lips and lit it, inhaling slowly.

The smoke tasted sweet and earthy—a little like a mushroom with honey on it… except not disgusting. It was also surprisingly cool on my throat, not hot and harsh like I’d expected from the way Roo was coughing. Then again, I’d been smoking Lune Leaf for years, so I was probably used to it.

I exhaled and offered the kori to Retis.

“Two hits each, kin. Otherwise we’d spend half the time passing it. Besides, that was just a taste. Pull harder this time, and let it out slowly.”

I nodded, and lit the kori again. It was a little harsher this time, but when I exhaled it felt like cool water was flowing from my lungs, running down my arms and legs, and swirling around my fingertips.

“Woah.” I had to sit down on my bed. Roo laughed, but Retis just smiled. He took the kori and sat down next to me on the bed.

“It’s kinda like you’re lying in a marsh, right?” He said, passed the pipe to Roo. “All cool and relaxed.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” I agreed. “Magic, right?” There’s no way it could just be a plant, I thought.

“Well it’s not an enchantment or anything, if that’s what you’re asking,” Retis said. “But it’s a kind of magic—old, natural, wild magic.”

“This particular reed grew in a marsh near my house in Stillbrook,” he continued. “Since the marsh is calm and cool, that’s how the reed will make you feel. If it had come from a dead or polluted swamp, it would probably make you sick; if it was from a sunny wetland full of fish and critters, it might make you warm and energetic.”

“So why do they call it Swiftreed if it doesn’t make you fast or whatever?” Roo asked, handing Retis the kori.

“It’s called Swiftreed after the lazy-ass lizards that live in it.” Retis paused to take a drag. “Swifts hardly move at all, but they really don’t have to—predators leave them alone and people would never hurt them; they believe the lizards keep life in the land.”

“Now there’s a sweet life,” Roo said.

I took two more hits of the reed and let the water pour into me. It didn’t drain away this time, and I felt myself slipping into it as it was flowing through me.

“Gai-damnit, I can’t blow a damn smoke ring in ’ere,” Roo said. He was lying on Retis’ bed, blowing smoke at the ceiling.

“Oh! Shawn, you should—” Retis started, but I was already standing up. “Hey, give Shawn the kori, kin,” Retis said. “You’ve got to see this.”

Roo put the smooth brown seed in my hand—I put it to my lips, took a long, slow pull, and closed my eyes. I tried to concentrate like I normally do, but my mind was still halfway in the water and I only had a loose grip on my thoughts.

I let the smoke drift out between my lips, expecting to see the drake start to form in front of me. Instead, it leaked out in a thin band of smoke, slithering and twisting as it wrapped around my body. I was surprised, and felt like something else was guiding the smoke—the smoke that came from me, that was a part of me, my breath.

I started to push the smoke out faster, and the band thickened until my entire upper body was shrouded. I felt panic deep inside my chest, but something was keeping it from coming to the surface.

I exhaled even harder, trying to clear my lungs of the heavy smoke, but it just thickened the cloud around me until I couldn’t see anything but the swirling grey. I was confused and disoriented, couldn’t see the room anymore, and the sound of wind was filling my ears.

I saw something coming toward me through the smoke but I couldn’t tell what it was. It was the smoke itself, solidifying as it sped toward me. I wanted to run, or at least move out of the way before it crashed into me, but I couldn’t move; something was holding me there. I was terrified, but… I also wanted it to reach me. I felt like it knew me and I wanted to know what it was and what it wanted with me.

As it drew closer, I saw that the shape was actually the giant head of a dragon, grey and churning as the smoke roared behind it. The wind built to a deafening howl as the smoke-dragon rushed toward me, and a low rumble began to resonate through my body.

Just as the dragon was about to slam into my chest, the wind stopped—all that was left of him was a cloud of smoke drifting over my face. After a few moments I could hear someone saying my name, shouting it.

“Retis? Roo?”

“Shawn! what the hell, kin?”

“Retis, thank Gaia—“

“What the fuck was that?” Retis sounded scared and angry, but I couldn’t think why he should be.

“I have no idea,” I sighed. “Where’s Roo?”

“Right here,” Roo said, creeping forward from the far corner of the room. “You scared th’ shit outta me, man.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going to do that?” Retis demanded.

“Do what? What are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“What the fuck do you think I’m talking about?” Retis shouted at me. “I’m talking about you doing a Gai-damn smoke trick that turns into a fucking whirlwind in our damn dorm room! And then you figure, ‘what the hell, might as well have a dragon too,’ right? No big deal, just a fucking ten-foot-tall dragon standing behind you, right?”

“I think I need to sit down,” I said. I sat on the bed and looked up at Retis, hurt and confused that he was yelling at me after all that. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to do that, I was just trying to do the drake again,” I said. “I was scared too; I didn’t know where I was or what had happened, and then it was over and I heard you saying my name and then you were fucking yelling at me.” I was getting angry now that I was saying it out loud.

“And what the fuck man,” I shot at him. “Why didn’t you tell me that Swiftreed does that? And then you fucking yell at me while I’m practically having a Gai-damn panic attack? Fuck you, kin.”

Retis still looked angry, and we glared at each other for a minute.

“You really didn’t know that was going to happen?” he asked.

“Did you know Swiftreed could make smoke tricks go bat-shit?”

“Swiftreed doesn’t do that by itself, but I don’t think you do either.” Retis flopped down on the bed and let his legs hang over the edge. “Sorry I yelled at you, kin.”

“Sorry I filled our room with a swirling vortex of hellfire.” I said, and Retis laughed.

“Uh, guys? I think I’m going to head back to my room now,” Roo said from the edge of the room. “Not that this hasn’t been fun and all, but I was hanging out with a smoke dragon yesterday, so…” He smiled, but he was still shaking a bit.

“I’m really sorry, Roo,” I said. “I didn’t mean—“

“I know. It’s alright, I’m jus’ a bit freaked out. See you guys tomorrow, yeah?”

“Alright, see you later then."

“Goodnight, Fuzzball,” Retis said.

“G’night, Fishlips,” Roo replied on his way out the door.

It was quiet for a few seconds after he left, and I looked over at Retis.

“You two are adorable together,” I grinned.

“Kindly fuck yourself, Smokey.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Chapters, CotF Main Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.