12 The artist
Paulo, Gaspar, Ayla and Baki were going down the trail that led to their village, since the descent was very steep and long, they had to walk carefully.
Ayla, looking up at the sky, said "it's getting dark earlier and earlier..."
The sky was already cloudy when Paulo arrived and looking now it was possible to see the rays of light passing through the clouds, it was the most beautiful sunset he had ever seen, he was going to comment on it when he noticed the apprehension on their faces.
Baki accelerating the pace said "we have to hurry... it will be difficult to get a good spot near the statue".
"What?" Said Paulo.
Gaspar made a pity face and said "The beat was very serious… you don't even remember the Shayāṭīn… and unfortunately you will understand it soon".
Paulo felt a burning in his arm just before he heard Gaspar say, "Hey, what do you have in your bag? Did you manage to steal anything in the city? ".
"I'm not a thief! I never stole anything in my life! there are only a few school books in my backpack ".
When Paul spoke the first part, they were slightly offended, but the second part took them by surprise.
Ayla's hands were shaking slightly as she said, "What did you say? What's in your backpack?".
"Just some books, nothing much... here! I will open it for you to see ".
Paulo's backpack was very simple, discolored and old, he didn't even remember how long he used it, the bag was part of a package that the government provides for public school students. The books are also part of the kit, but they are usually returned at the end of the year, to be reused by other students.
Paulo opened the bag and showed the books, notebook, case and something lost at the bottom, the books were quite worn out, due to the years of use by different students, not to mention the many 'artists', like Paulo, who left their mark on the pages.
They were with their mouths open seeing the things from his backpack, "See! it's just old books... "when Paulo took one of the books uncarefully to show it, they almost had a heart attack.
Gaspar in a panic, "NO!! STOP!... Handle it carefully!! you'll damage the antiquity! ".
"What? antiquity… "
only then did Paul understand their expression, shit! I forgot that in the past, books were very valuable, will they try to steal from me? the expression on Paulo's face changed very quickly, he thought about running away, but he knew he had nowhere to go. At that moment, Paulo started feeling something strange, he had the feeling that the chances of him dying increased, hm ?... weird feeling... and obvious.
Ayla looked at him and said "How did you get these books?...".
Gaspar had to hold himself back when he saw the books, but he couldn't hide his excitement when he said "This is not a good place to talk! Tomorrow morning we will talk...".
While talking they arrived at the village and ended up not realizing that someone had been following them for quite some time.
The houses were made by pieces of wood and vegetation, some of them had walls made of stones, but most of the houses looked old and poorly maintained.
Paulo was feeling too cold to continue, and asked about these sayajins, "What is your family's tent?"
"Family?... no one here has a family..." said Baki.
"I'm sorry... Do you guys live together with another family?" said Paulo.
They ran towards the center of the village, passing some empty houses and when they passed by the second row of houses, they could see the residents.
"You weren't understanding, nobody here has a family... everyone in this village is alone, some have been expelled from the city and others are lost like you..." said Ayla.
You could see fear and despair on the faces of the residents, Gaspar said "And nobody lived in the village long enough to form a family... there are only two alternatives here, you can find a way to be accepted back in the city or die trying" .
Most of the residents were gathered around the fire next to the statue and some were in the houses near the center.
The statue represented a giant eagle, it was carrying two elephants in its claws, to represent the size well they had made the elephant a little smaller than the eagle's fingers, the statue itself wasn't that big, it was very detailed, but it seemed to be very old and damaged by the weather.
At the base of the statue, there were some inscriptions and some holes, most of the holes were occupied by crystals, but some of them were empty, the crystals shone in different intensities and some were almost extinguished.
Let's get you something to dress before nightfall... "Gaspar guided them to one of the houses, the walls were made of clay and wood, inside the hut there was only a pile of furs in one of the corners and some 'beds' made of dry vegetation, "wrap yourself in my blanket for now, we'll have to borrow one from a neighbor...".
"Thanks..."
wow! It smells really bad, when was the last time they had washed it? thought Paulo as he curled up with the fur of an unknown animal.
"We can go to Zahra's house, maybe she has some clothes to borrow"said Ayla.
Upon hearing this, Baki got excited "Yeah... and maybe she has something good for us to eat..."
They ran to her house before nightfall, the people they saw were of all ages, most of them seemed to be young, but they all looked unmotivated and in bad shape. Some people greeted them or just nodded, Zahra's house was on the other side of the statue.
They didn't take even two minutes to get to her house, it was one of the only ones made of stones, when they arrived a middle aged black lady was leaving the house, she was being accompanied by a yellow black-striped kitten, when Paulo looked at her face, he saw only concern.
"Hello boys" said Zahra with a smile, before completing "Why aren't you going to the statue?"
They greeted her and Ayla said "We wanted to know if you have any clothes to borrow, Paulo arrived today and didn't bring anything".
For a moment she lost her smile, but she quickly hid her feelings. "Don't worry, I have the right thing for a handsome guy like you."
They thanked her and followed her into the house, the contrast with the other houses was huge, it was little, but the house was all neat and clean. "With these thin clothes you will die frozen" said Zahra before walking to a chest that was leaning against the wall, she started to choose some clothes. "These here must be your size."
She had taken a white shirt and pants, a black turban to match the black tunic, "They are a little old, but I think they will look good on you".
"Since we are out of time, just put on your tunic and turban for now," said Gaspar.
Paulo placed the blanket, which he was using, on the only bed in the house and took the clothes she was holding, the clothes looked old, but they were well taken care of and clean, thank God I didn't have to use that, they must have used that blanket to clean the bathroom floor… hm… how do you wear this?
While he was trying to get dressed, his necklace wrapped around his shirt's collar and started to bother his neck, it was an old crucifix he had gotten from his grandmother when he was only a child. How are they now?... have they noticed my disappearance? Why did God send me to this place?... Paulo wiped the 'sweat' from his eyes and continued to change.
Meanwhile Baki said, "Aunt, did you cook anything today? I'm starving..."
Ayla glared at him, but before she scolded him Zahra said "Of course I did... I think we can all eat a piece" she took a basket and took out some bread that was wrapped in a cloth .
While they shared the bread, Zahra looked at Paulo and saw that he was making a mess trying to put on the clothes "haha you must have come from the western kingdoms..." smiling she started helping him with the clothes.
"You remind me a lot of my youngest Shujae, he used to love that color...".
Paulo put the tunic on top of the clothes he was wearing and with the help of her, he stuck the turban, the fabric of the tunic was thick and protected well from the cold, these clothes are much softer than I imagined… and this fabric is very nice, he thought as he looked at the golden embroidery on the sleeves and put the other clothes in the backpack.
"Thank you very much... after I buy some clothes in the city, I will return these to you".
"You look really cute with them," she said as she straightened the turban, before completing "Consider it as a gift… when Shujae comes back I will buy him new clothes ", shortly after she offered one of the breads.
"Thank you so much... hm... do you have some water?"
After drinking and passing it to the others, Paulo looked out the window and asked "Is this statue that protects the village from the sayatins?".
"Yes, she protects us from the Shayāṭīn, but for that, she depends on everyone's contribution," everyone turned to look at who had said that.
Some people were leaving the houses next door and the alleys, in front of them was a middle aged man, he was dressed in old clothes, but in better condition than the others.
Gaspar and the others bowed slightly and said "Rayiys".
Rayiys looked at them and said, "Did you get anything today? besides one more lostboy of course... "
Ayla looked at the others and as they left the house, she said "Just some fruit... the guards were more alert today..."
At this moment Paulo felt the burning in his arm again, is the tattoo getting infected? when he looked one of the inverted clovers erased ♧, now the two inverted ones were erased ♧ ♧ and the normal one was the only clover that was still dark ♣, how strange...
Ayla was explaining, when she heard a scream, a shadow started to cover the camp, Paulo looked up and saw a darker cloud covering the last rays of the sun, people started running towards the statue.
"Why all this despair..." Gaspar pulled him and dragged him through the crowd, Paulo looked back and did not find Zahra, he was about to tell the others to wait when he noticed that she was in front of them, in fact she was running faster than him.
Even though most of them were already close to the statue, their expression was one of pure fear as they ran.
They crowded as close as they could to the statue, the only sources of light were the bonfires around the statue, it was difficult to see anything beyond the second row of houses, Paulo noticed that most people had their eyes closed and the others were looking at the statue while praying, but the most worrying thing was that most of them had their arms shaking.
Paulo looked at Rayiys and saw him placing two more crystals on the statue, but his expression was one of distress, Rayiys turned and said out loud "Be as alert as possible, I don't think our reservations will last until moon rises if it remains cloudy… "
Some people started to cry, Paulo turned to know why people were so scared, before he could ask, Gaspar pointed to one of the houses.
Figures began to appear from all directions, in fact they seemed to materialize from the shadows and were getting closer and closer.
The sound of crying and prayers grew louder, Paulo's hands trembled as he held the crucifix, the specter came out of the shadows and stepped on the part lit by the bonfire, My God… they aren't afraid of the light...
Paulo looked around, but he had nowhere to run, when the first one was less than 10 meters away, Paulo could clearly see the appearance of the evil being, My God... it is a person... just a little boy...
