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Authors: Storm Constantine

Tags: #angels, #magic, #wraeththu, #storm constantine, #androgyny, #wendy darling

Paragenesis: Stories of the Dawn of Wraeththu (10 page)

BOOK: Paragenesis: Stories of the Dawn of Wraeththu
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At the end of the long drive
was a large flat-roofed, two-story building that, judging by the
truck bays must have been some sort of business premises, with a
warehouse on the ground floor and office space above. I could also
see some smaller buildings further back. What was most surprising
was that this place, hidden out in the woods, bustled with
activity. There were hara loading a wagon, others digging in a
ditch, and others bound for somewhere carrying tools or boxes.

My companions were greeted
warmly with big smiles and waves and calls of ‘welcome back’.

Maelduin turned to me. “Welcome
to your first ‘home’, Nolan. Make yourself comfortable, pitch in,
make friends, and I’ll see you at dinner.” He pointed at Aydenn and
D’rik. “You two are off to find out about the next convoy.” Then he
pointed at Acorn and Osiris. “You two need to come with me. We’ve
got to check in with our fearless leader.” Finally, Maelduin
pointed at Inari. “You go get Nolan checked in and then join
us.”

“You…” Maelduin pointed at
Zekki.

“I,” announced Zekki, “am going
to have a bath, and nap until dinner.” With a grin and wink he was
off.

Inari guided me into one of the
open truck bays where a harried-looking har with straw-coloured
hair twisted up into a knot was sorting papers. He looked up as we
approached. “Inari! You’re back! Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Buzz,”
Inari said with a grin. “I’m signing in a new addition.”

Buzz’s eyes flickered over to
where I stood and he nodded quickly. “He’s already har? OK, good.
Name?”

“Nolan,” I said.

Buzz wrote that down. “OK, OK…”
He grabbed a large clipboard “… Ummmm… let’s see.” He began to chew
on the pencil. “You see we’re realllllly crowded – the convoy that
was supposed to leave yesterday didn’t because the wagon wheel fell
off… Oy! What a mess… I can find you a temporary spot… and I’ll
move you into a real spot when the convoy leaves…”

“He’s bunking with me,” Inari
said.

Buzz stuck the pencil into his
hair-knot and looked me over with a bit more interest than he had
initially. “OK, then. Since you’re probably expected to check in
with the boss – I’ll take care of Nolan.”

Inari nodded. “See you at
dinner,” he said to me as he headed off.

“Right, then,” Buzz said. “A
bath, some new clothes, and we’ll get you settled.” Then he yelled
over his shoulder: “Hiko!”

A lanky pale har with a shaved
head and four gold earrings ambled out of one of the old office
spaces.

“Hiko, this is Nolan. He’s just
arrived. Can you take him and get him set up?”

“Sure!”

The bath was divinely warm and
soapy; I felt reborn. Hiko seemed determined to ‘transform’ me;
he’d found me some fabulous clothes, new boots, and a flashy
jacket, and he’d produced a citrusy liquid he’d applied to my hair
which allowed him to brush out the tangles almost painlessly.

When triumphantly he stood me
in front of a mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. The last time I’d
had a proper bath and clean clothes I’d been an adolescent in my
grandmother’s tiny apartment; a scrawny, pale, shy boy with short
cropped hair – an awkward ugly duckling. Now a slender exotic
creature with large brown eyes and brown wavy hair that hung down
the middle of his back stared back at me. I ran my fingers through
my hair. I was a swan. I smiled at my reflection and was instantly
struck by the resemblance between my reflection and an old
dog-eared photograph of my grandmother I’d once found in one of her
old books. My grandmother lived on in me.

Just how complete a
transformation Hiko had achieved was evident when we reported back
to Buzz. The har glanced up in my direction in a quick distracted
acknowledgment of my presence, and then did a startled double-take,
knocking over a pile of carefully stacked papers. An eyebrow rose
as he looked me over thoroughly. “Well… wow! That’s quite the
cleanup,” he said.

Hiko laughed. “OK. Apparently
you approve. I’m going to show Nolan the compound. See you at
dinner.”

There were storage areas,
horses, and wagons. There was a blacksmith and an expansive
cultivation area that grew vegetables. There were chickens and
goats. There was a recycling and repurposing area and more. I was
impressed – thoroughly.

“We try to be as
self-sufficient as possible,” Hiko said proudly.

As we walked back towards the
main buildings, I caught site of two smaller buildings set well
apart from the others.

“What’s in there?” I asked.

“The smaller cottage is where
we house any humans that come through,” Hiko replied. “The
refugees, we help on through. Those wanting to be incepted are
coached and prepared for the process. That’s where I spent about a
week when I first got here. The other bigger building is where they
hold the inception ritual and then care for newbies until the
change is done. After that, they’re brought to the main buildings
and there is a welcoming ceremony before they get to go off for the
fun bit…” He grinned at me and winked. “Inari was my first.” He
seemed to catch himself and shot me a rather self-conscious look,
then cleared his throat. “That doesn’t bother you, does it?” he
continued rapidly. “‘Cuz sometimes we still think of sex and aruna
as the same and having the same rules, right? But they don’t,
right? I just don’t want you to feel weird ‘cuz … shit! … I
shouldn’t have said anything,” he finished somewhat sheepishly.

“Oh… no…,” I said hurriedly.
“Inari and I have never… you know – done it. I … don’t…” I felt my
cheeks flush.

“You don’t?” Hiko looked at me
as if I had two heads. “Why?”

“Inception wasn’t my choice,
and I spent most of my ‘change’ alone, in a dumpster. The next bit
was pretty awful too, so….” My voice trailed off and I
shrugged.

“Oh, wow… I’m sorry,” he said
awkwardly.

We walked a bit in silence.

“Nolan?” There was a long
pause. “I know you’re bunking with Inari… and I just want to say…”
Hiko was struggling with the right wording. “You know…. If the
opportunity comes up… you know … for you and Inari to … you know…”
He fixed me with an intense look. “Trust him, okay?”

We stared at each other for a
moment, and then a sly smile crept across his face. “Trust me,” he
said. “You will not regret it.”

A loud cacophony of banging
pots and pans and hollering announced dinner; Hiko and I headed
back at a jog to join the mess hall line.

I found the table with my
travel companions and endured (and thoroughly enjoyed) the
compliments and teasing about my make-over. I blushed and beamed
and noted with a startling degree of satisfaction that Inari kept
stealing sidelong glances in my direction despite being in deep
discussion with a beautiful blond har who wore a red leather
jacket.

Three days of travel on foot
with not much sleep, the newness of the place, my relief at having
what felt like a real home, combined with a full belly was catching
up with me; I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

Acorn and Aydenn escorted me up
to the sleeping quarters as Inari and Maelduin headed off for more
meetings.

The sleeping quarters were on
the second floor of the building. Up there, the open plan room had
been divided into smaller, more private spaces using an eclectic
array of materials and methods. A few tents had been set up, and
blankets and old curtains had been strung up between pillars.
Inari’s ‘room’ was at the far end of the room. The space was marked
by the corner walls and an old office cubical wall; a curtain panel
provided privacy. Most of the floor space was filled with a large
mattress. A bed and privacy: to me that was luxury. I kicked off my
boots and sat down on the edge of the mattress. For the first time
in ages I felt like things were good; I dared to begin to hope.

I don’t remember lying down,
and I certainly don’t remember falling asleep, but I must have.

Gentle shaking roused me. It
was Inari.

“Nolan! Wake up. There’s a
welcoming ceremony this morning. Six new hara are being welcomed to
the tribe. I want you to come. Maelduin and I are assisting the
hienama this morning.”

I sat up groggily as Inari
rolled off the bed. He had slept naked. In the early morning
darkness I could see his body, pale and ghost-like as he dressed.
He was beautiful.

“C’mon sleepy head.” Inari
teased.

I yawned as I began to grope
around on the floor for my boots and yanked them on.

“You’re still tired? Did my
snoring keep you awake?”

I shook my head and yawned
again. “Do
I
snore?” I asked curiously as I pulled on my
jacket.

“No, but you’re really cuddly”
he said and waggled his eyebrows up and down. “Come on. After the
ceremony I want to introduce you to the hienama. You need to start
your spiritual caste training - you know, learn how to throw
garbage cans around and cloud human minds.” Inari flashed me a grin
and headed out of the cubicle through the privacy curtain.

I stared after him for a second
or two before following. I was not too sure about the training, the
tingly quiver that surged through my gut at being told that I was
cuddly by the har who had slept next to me naked invoked feelings
that felt more erotic and earthy than soulful and spiritual.

I stumbled after Inari into the
freshness of the pre-dawn air, still yawning. We went to stand
before a raised dais, upon which was a semi-circle of lit torches.
Acorn linked his arm through mine and we watched as the hienama,
assisted by Maelduin and Inari, prepared for the ceremony.

At a signal, a procession
entered the space parading the new hara in to stand before the
three officiates who stood waiting on the raised dais. I probably
should have been watching the procession like everyone else, but I
found my gaze drawn to Inari. He looked solemn and regal in his
pale robe, his dark hair hanging loose about his shoulders.
Beautiful.

“They’re naked under those
robes,” Acorn whispered in my ear.

I felt my face flush and was
thankful the sun was still below the horizon.

The six new hara looked excited
but at the same time terrified. The hienama, a rather forbidding
looking creature with his head shaved save for the long braid that
fell from the back of his skull, raised his arms and called us to
silence.

He offered words of thanks for
the new hara’s safe transformation, then he spoke of the great
potentials they now had. He also told them that while they must put
the past aside, they were not to forget it: instead they should
bring the new understanding that is Wraeththu to their new path.
The great potential of Wraeththu, he said, was a gift of great
privilege, and with it came a great responsibility. He spoke at
length about transformation; hope, belief, and the future. His
words were moving and profound. I wish I could have paid more
attention and remembered them all, but some of the things he said
resonated deep inside of me, kindling thoughts, stirring my soul. I
felt more than I heard.

After the hienama’s speech, a
chosen har from the tribe would go and stand on the dais and a new
har would be called forward. The chosen har would speak to the new
har for a time. We were too far away to hear what was said but the
words always seemed to make the new har beam; part of me envied
them. The new har was given his “harish” name by his chosen har,
and then those gathered around would repeat the name solemnly;
sealing it to the individual. Then the two would walk to the side
of the dais and wait, sometimes holding hands, sometimes linking
arms. It was very moving.

By the time all six new hara
had been welcomed, the sky in the east had lightened considerably,
and the gathering began to murmur restlessly, sensing that the
ceremony was all but over. Breakfast smells were beginning to drift
out.

The hienama raised his arms
again and silence fell once more. He turned his head towards me and
beckoned me. “Nolan.”

I froze. Acorn had to give me a
gentle shove to get me moving towards the dais. When I got there
the hienama looked down at me solemnly.

“Nolan, your inception was
marred by violence and brutality. It should not have been so, but
becoming Wraeththu is not only a physical transformation. We are
reborn by new thinking, new choices, and new beginnings. The past
must be the past. Choose the future, begin again. It is time to
rise like the phoenix, reborn.”

He acknowledged me with a
slight bow, stepped back and motioned Inari forward.

Inari smiled gently. I imagine
I looked as nervous now as some of the new hara had earlier.

“I had spent quite a few months
trying to rescue hara from the violence and chaos in the city,”
Inari said, “but we only found those who embraced violence and
revelled in their ignorance. They lived like the humans. I admit to
being pretty discouraged, but finding you restored my faith, gave
me hope again to trust that there are still those out there who
believe in our future. I have a dream, Nolan… Finding you in the
city rekindled my hope, that I,” he smiled, “or rather,
we
can achieve that dream.”

He pointed to the eastern
horizon where the sky was now a rapidly expanding band of pale blue
light.

“You are my dawn of hope,” he
said solemnly. “Hope for my dream, hope for the future. Out of the
ancient language of my ancestors I give you your new name, Amal
Sahar, literally ‘hope dawns’.”

Behind me, there was a murmur
of many voices repeating the name. I felt tears well up. It was an
emotional moment. I truly felt different, like I was no longer
Nolan-the-outsider- from-the-city. I was now one of them: I
belonged.

Breakfast was delicious. Zekki
had me in fits of giggles, inventing new nicknames and rhymes for
me based on my new name. I was hugged and congratulated; my smile
muscles hurt from grinning so much.

BOOK: Paragenesis: Stories of the Dawn of Wraeththu
6.55Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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