45 Elon Awakens (1)

When the sun rose on the eighth day, A-Narah popped awake and directly ran off in the direction of the chief's tent where Elon had been all this time. When she arrived Lael and the rest were already there. They waited with fidgeting fingers for the tent to open and let them in. The sun rose higher in the sky, but they didn't move.

Adom came up from the morning training and was not surprised to see them all waiting there. Adom walked past them and entered the tent. A moment later he stuck his arm out and waved them in.

A-Narah stood at the front as they strode in. In the center of the wide and spacious was a table full of various bottled herbs and a bag of tools. A pot of boiling water was off to the side, and a strange man that A-Narah had never seen the like was laid strewn, sleeping on a bed of blankets.

"Where is Elon?" she whispered quietly to Adom. Adom didn't answer her but instead went up to the table of herbs and uncorked a bottle filled with tiny white rocks that looked like salt. Adom thrusted it under the nose of the sleeping man, and after one breath the man cried out and fell backwards, onto the floor, holding his nose.

A high, nasally voice came from the strange man, "You dalcop! Are you trying to remove my nose from my face? Put a cork in that hateful, repulsive bile. That stuff should only be used on those who have lost both balls and flinch from the wing of a butterfly." The man still held his nose, holding his nostrils closed, and moved his jaw in around in a circle.

Adom looked at the white salts inside the bottle and took a careful whiff of it from a distance. His head jerked back a bit and he put the stopper in, plugging it back up. "I heard you say before that this can be used to revive those who can't awaken," Adom said.

The man propped himself up and glared at Adom. He let go of his nose and let out a large sniff. "Yes, but I was asleep. Use that on someone who needs to be revived. You could have just woken me up normally. That is a high concentration. You only use it in small amounts. Put it up against a nose and it will burn it from the inside out."

"Ah, sorry. I couldn't tell," Adom said with a straight face.

"Couldn't tell indeed," the man snarled.

From the background A-Narah let out a polite cough to announce their presence. When the strange man saw them, his demeanor changed completely. He jumped to his feet and dusted off his robes. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?" the man asked.

"These are the people you have kept waiting for over seven days," drolled Adom.

"Ah, yes yes the foreigners," the man said as if enlightened.

A-Narah looked at the man with hair the color of flame in amazement. How could this man not tell who they were? They looked absolutely nothing alike any of the others in the tribe. When A-Narah met the man's eyes her own went wide. The man's pupils were a strange shape and the color around them was violet. She had never seen anything like it.

"Came from the south did they?"

"From the center continent, Middle Kingdom, sir," Lael said. Speaking for the first time since entering.

"Middle Kingdom is it? I thought it would have been somewhere much more interesting. Well follow me." With that the man turned and led them to a dark, cloistered section at the back of the tent.

"I believe this is the reason that you came today?" The man raised his finger to keep them silent before they entered. It was dark and humid in this area, unlike the dry heat that existed everywhere else in the tent and outside. Laying prone on the center of the bed was Elon. It was hard to see him or his condition as there was little light in the area.

A-Narah opened her mouth to speak, but the strange man stopped her. He then led them back out to the main part of the tent.

"Why isn't he awake? You promised us that he would be awake by today," Lael accused.

"I said by today didn't I? There is still plenty of day left," the man pointed out.

"You are the shaman? Aren't you?" A-Narah asked.

The man looked over and smirked at her. "Why yes little kitten. I am." A-Narah's lips tightened at his words.

"You said that he would be better."

"And he will be. He is. Healing is a time-consuming process that can't be rushed. One must go at their own pace."

"Then hurry the pace along."

"Little kitten didn't you hear what I just said? It can't be rushed. And your friend's case is special. He was injured with a very toxic poison. The only way he even survived this long is that his body was able to adapt to the toxins."

"What do you mean adapt?"

"Your friend is like a weak chrysalis. He is sleeping and dormant, but when he awakens, he will have transformed into the colorful butterfly."

"I don't care about your butterfly metaphors. All I want is evidence that my friend is better."

"Transformations all come about in their own time dear, as I'm sure you know."

"No I don't," A-Narah said with a look of bafflement.

Uzzi stepped forward and grabbed the shaman by the front of his robe, lifting him off the ground. But Adom was quick to step forward and force him to set the shaman down. Unperturbed, the shaman smoothed out the front of his robe and kept up is smug countenance.

"I suggest you wait outside," Adom said to them in a voice that demanded no nonsense. A-Narah waved her guards out, not wanting them to accidently kill or maim Elon's only hope just yet. But she stayed back. She had many more questions for this elusive man.