Alvalor 2.2

The next day, Napodi and the twins took Will on a tour of the village. At first it didn’t look like much: just a couple dozen cabins and a few people hurrying here and there, carrying straw and things in baskets, or cleaning out their little hut.

They walked south on a wide dirt road, past the fields of wooly sheep, to an old shack that looked like it was ready to cave in on itself. It was nearly the same size as Napodi’s house, but looked very much abandoned. The roughly made sign hanging next to its splintery door said “Lower Byklaw Entrance 2”. Will glanced at Napodi, question in his eyes. This didn’t look like much of an entrance to anything. She grinned and opened the front door for him and the twins.

Inside the hut, there was absolutely nothing but a big hole in the ground. The hole was about eight feet wide all around and, as it went down, grew into a gradually descending tunnel with a flickering light coming through the gap at the turning finish. Two burly men sat in chairs next to it, watching carefully as everyone filed into the tunnel.

As he walked down the musty passageway, Will heard a rumble of sounds come from the end up ahead and caught a delicious whiff of something cooking.

When they got to the opening at the end, Will’s jaw dropped. Inside was a city almost twice the size as the one above ground. Here, there were many little shops near the left wall where Byklaws could be seen selling their numerous wares such as clothes, food, or even brightly decorated hammocks.

On the right, some very pleasant looking cabins gleamed with the pride of the wealthy beside the cavern wall. In the middle of those houses was a humongous stage that looked perfect for plays. And there were so many people! Will didn’t think he’d ever seen any group of people even close to the size of this. The whole underground cave was a surging mass of brown and silver; wooden carts being pulled by donkeys, dirt billowing out from beneath feet and wheels and, of course, the brown clothes and silver cloaks of each person, big and small.

Undersized silver cloaks caught the light of millions of fiery torches lining the walls on huge posts, as their owners dodged and darted between the adults. Will heard laughter and turned to look. In a cavern built off of the larger on the other side, a group of kids were playing a heated game involving a ball and three baskets in the ground.

They stepped into the colossal room between two short towers where a rough, bearded man sat in each. As Will took a closer look, he realized that they had two claws coming out of the knuckles of each of their hands. Of course! He had completely forgotten about the Byklaws’ namesake. He remembered now, reading back home about each of the villages’ unique talents.

Now, Napodi unsheathed her own silver claws to show to the guard who nodded his head, motioning her forward. Proudly, Millie and Max on their crutches unsheathed theirs to show to the guard too, who smiled kindly at them and nodded again. Noticing Will was with them, the guard let him pass, but not before leering suspiciously in his direction. He caught up with Napodi and yelled in her ear to be heard over the bustle.

“Is it always this busy?”

“No, everyone is preparing for the big celebration tomorrow!” She hollered in reply. Seeing Will’s vacant expression she said, “You know, Freedom’s Day!” Will shook his head. Napodi led Will and the protesting twins over to a quieter corner.

“That is the day Alastair Anifon overcame the evil King Keeler who ruled over us, helped the true royalty escape from prison, and restored freedom for everyone!”

Confused, Will said slowly, “But it’s not freedom if you still have royalty, is it?”

“Of course it is; that’s the beauty of it! King Adrian and his family let everyone do whatever we want, and make whatever choices we want. They protect us, and in return, we give them taxes to help! That is freedom, is it not?”

Still confused, Will shrugged and decided to change the subject, wanting to think about what she had said and how he would answer very carefully before saying anything further.

“So what’s that delicious smell that’s got my stomach eating itself?”

Hearing this, the twins rushed forward and hounded Napodi, pulling her sleeves and shouting, “Tiger Claws! Can we get some, please, please, please?” They pointed at a small stall a stone’s throw away.

Giving in pretty easily Will noticed, Napodi walked over to the stall and bought three scone-like pastries. They were about two hand lengths wide, and covered in a sweet glaze. The light, flat buns had two slashes through the middle that could have only been made by a Byklaw.

When Napodi started back towards them, their stomachs rumbled as the aroma of the sweet dessert wafted over. As the kids ate their Tiger Claws, the twins sharing one, Will decided that it tasted like a cross between a scone and a donut, although neither could compare.

Finally, licking the leftover glaze from their fingers with relish, the kids agreed they should go check out the Slam Ball field. Napodi explained the rules of Slam Ball as they weaved through the numerous villagers. “It is pretty simple, really,” she said, “There are three teams all competing against each other. Usually their colors are red, blue and yellow. The main idea of the game is to score more points than the other two teams. You score a point by hitting the ball into the basket that matches the color of your bandana.”

As they neared the field, she added, “There are not many rules except you cannot carry the ball, and if it draws blood, it is a foul.”

“Sounds pretty rough.” Will concluded. “Are there any age limits?”

“No,” said Napodi with a sly smile. “Everyone plays, although we do sometimes give the younger kids a little leeway.” They reached the wide opening of the smaller cave. Here, too, sat two burly men with their claws out, watching as every person passed. The bigger section of the cavern on the left was teeming with children playing all sorts of random games. On the right though, was the Slam Ball field.

It reminded Will of a Star of David since it was made up of two triangles on top of each other, one upside down to the other. In three of the points of one of the triangles laid three holes holding baskets about a foot and a half in diameter. The kids playing at the moment were viciously punching, kicking, and even heading the ball with surprising accuracy.

Napodi walked over to the nearest cavern wall where there were three more baskets sitting just off the field. These held yellow, blue, and red pieces of cloth to wrap around one’s head like a bandana. She gave a blue one to each of the twins, and held out a red one for Will, keeping a second for herself. This, she explained, was to ensure the teams didn’t get overly uneven.

As soon as Will had covered his head with the cloth, a brown ball about the size of a small soccer ball came flying in his direction. Relying solely on his reflexes tuned from karate, Will punched the ball so that it flew into the red basket that happened to be closest to him. Energized by the cheers from the others on his team, and an impressed look from Napodi, Will grinned and the game went on.

“Well done,” a boy on Will’s team panted a few minutes later. “I have not seen you before—what is your name?”

“Will,” he grinned, breathing hard. He stuck out a hand to shake. The boy took it, his grip firm. He was older than Will by a few years; his voice was deeper, his shoulders squarer, and whiskers ran along his jaw line.

“Gavyn,” the boy grinned back. “Are you from around here?”

Will just shrugged. “Yeah, around. Do you play this game often?”

Gavyn nodded cockily. “I play every chance I get,” he swung an arm across his thick chest, stretching it. “I am the captain, as of late, so I am in charge of choosing who plays where. And you, my friend,” he grinned again, “will play up front with my boys.”

Will stood a little straighter. Was it possible he was being accepted into a group, for the first time in his life? “Cool,” he nodded in a way he hoped was calm and mature.

Gavyn clapped him on the shoulder. Then Will remembered Napodi and glanced back. She stood stiffly near the edge of the field, seemingly unnoticed by the players on her team. Her eyes had been on Will and Gavyn until he looked back, then she concentrated on the ball instead.

Gavyn followed Will’s gaze. “If you want some advice,” the older boy muttered, a joking smile never leaving his lips, “I would not be seen with that girl if I were you. There are plenty of other birds in this town—natural ones, if you know what I mean.”

Will stared with surprise. “Um, no actually, I don’t know what you mean. What’s not natural about—“

“Come, come,” Gavyn laughed. “We are wasting game time. Just stay away from that girl, and we will get along just fine. That should not be a problem.”

“I-I don’t get it,” Will stuttered. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Are you really that dim?” Gavyn chuckled, although his eyes were getting darker. “Look at her! Not a twin in sight! It is disgusting, the way they let Lemis wander about these days.”

“Lemi…” Will remembered reading in The Septribes about Lemis. Apparently, everyone in Alvalor had a twin, or a Gemi, as they called them—everyone, of course, except for Lemis.

“Will,” an uncertain voice called out to him. He looked over to see Napodi again, this time closer to the two talking boys. “Have you seen the twins? We should be—“

“Do not interrupt, we were having a conversation.” Gavyn said nastily. “Stay in your place until we have need of you.”

Napodi’s jaw clenched, and Will’s stomach flopped miserably. He had always wanted to be part of something, and accepted into a large group of friends. But, now, watching the turmoil on Napodi’s face, Will found he wanted nothing to do with Gavyn or his friends. It confused Will endlessly, but he knew what he had to do.

“No, I haven’t seen them,” Will said, softly at first, but with his voice growing in strength. “Maybe—maybe we should go look for them.”

Napodi shook her head. “You do not need to. I will go—“

“Nah, I’m just about done, anyway.” Will inched toward her, watching Gavyn’s mouth work out of the corner of his eye. “Thanks for letting me play,” he told the older boy cautiously. “And…and I don’t think I’ll be needing your advice.”

“Your loss,” Gavyn’s eyes completely lost their laughing glimmer. “With an attitude like that, you will go nowhere in this world. The same goes for having friends like that,” he hissed.

Will raised an eyebrow. “Whatever, dude.” He turned his back on Gavyn and walked until he stood beside Napodi. “Should we find the twins, then?”

Napodi, wide-eyed and speechless, just nodded.

*****************

It gets more exciting next chapter, I promise!!

Thanks for reading!

--Anna