22

  We teleported to the end of the forest to then walk the rest of the way. I didn’t want to scare some people by just randomly appearing from no where. There was no one in the fields, probably because they were all in the village getting ready for the Bira. The sun was now low on the horizon, not quite yet setting, but cooling down from the afternoon heat. As I walked along the path towards Matemai’s campsite, I couldn’t help but enjoy the walk. This was the first time I would be seeing the sunset in this world. With the clear blue sky and warm weather, the horizon was promising some beautiful colors when the sunset. I was sure when the night sky slowly appear, it will be scattered with twinkling stars like diamond on a black canvas. It reminded me so much of evenings at home.

  And just like that, I was feeling nostalgic for my home. I thought of my children and grandchildren and wondered what they were doing and feeling. Not for the first time, I wondered what they made of my disappearance. I really hoped it hadn’t messed them up. I hoped they could accept what had happened and move on and not hold on to the grief. Tears prickled my eyes. I was on my way to a party when my family were possibly eating themselves up with grief and guilt.

  “What is wrong?” Jena asked quietly. I was glad he asked because his voice helped to pull me out of my head. There was really nothing I could do about my family, right now. I needed to live for now. I need to be here.

  “Just thinking about home.” I sniffed and blinked away the tears.

  “Oh.” Was all he said. He knew exactly what home I meant. Jena, just like Matemai, did not understand why I would want to go back to my world. Yes, there was magic here and yes, there was so much to learn and see, but the price to pay for me to enjoy that was too high. I wanted my family. Besides, I wasn’t willing to give up my retirement and save the world. I wanted to go back home and be with my children. A small voice reminded me that wasn’t technically true, my children lived many miles away from me. I was lucky to see them once a year. It still didn’t matter. At least I would know I can go visit them if I want or I can talk to the on the phone. The fact remained, though, that I was here, and if I wanted to get my retirement, I needed to focus on the here and now.

  “Don’t worry. It’s possible to want two opposing things at the same time,” I said to Jena with a smile. “I want to go home, but I also want to help with this situation.”

  “I will never understand you humans. Your lives are so intertwined with each other even when it’s not in your best interest.”

  “Says the dragon who desperately wants to save Nyajena and is bound to a human.” Jena smiled. He could see the irony. “Jena, I promise you, I will do my best, but I am serious about retirement. One way or another, I am going to get my retirement. I promise you.”

  “I don’t know about retirement, but I know you will give this your best shot. And that is all I ask and expect. I will do the same.”

  The walk to Matemai’s campsite didn’t take me too long. I got turned around a little bit and arrived from the back of the campsite instead of the front where I arrived in the morning. When I was just a few meters away, I could sense that something was different from the last time I was here. There was an air of festivity about the campsite, and there were a lot more people than I had seen in the afternoon. I knew Matemai worked for the Ishe in Nyajena, but I had assumed he was a lone mage with his three warrior guards. The scene in front of me suggested otherwise. There were a lot more people and a lot more running around. His campsite was more of a little settlement than a campsite. What was he? Was he like a really important person who traveled with a retinue?

  Here in the back of the campsite, tents were scattered around with people moving about purposefully. Some were carrying big, colorful clay pots on their heads. They must have been carrying water from the river. How does one travel with clay pots, or did Matemai get them from the village? There was a bigger tent with more people where there was cooking going on. Umm, amazing smell. My stomach rumbled. I hope I will be served some of that deliciousness. I had been eating magically preserved food for a while. Fresh food sounded wonderful.

  There were some youths cleaning the magical carriage that we had used in the afternoon and looking after the horses. This was definitely Matemai’s campsite. I could see the steed that Mhazi had been riding. Yes, we were not lost.

  “Wow, Matemai has a tiny village going on here,” said Jena over my ear.

  “You can say that again. I wonder why though. I was under the impression that he was on Ishe’s mage with three warrior guards to guard him or something. I am pretty sure all this wasn’t here when I came this afternoon,” I replied.

  “Otherwise I would be forced to think that either Jena did something to you so that you didn’t notice or—” He shrugged.

  “Or what?”

  “I don’t know. You are not very observant?” The way he said it was more a question than an observation. The ancient dragon had jokes.

  “I am very observant, thank you very much.” I huffed in a feigned, put-upon voice. “I will have you know that Matemai did not do anything to me,” I said haughtily. “Otherwise I would have known, especially after what we went through with the Mist residue. I am sort of an expert on these things, you know.” I couldn’t hold back my smile. If I was to leave this place, I would surely miss Jena.

  “Yes, I’m sure you are,” Jena said, placating me.I ignored his cheekiness in favor of announcing myself.

  “Hello!” I shouted and startled a young person carrying a huge clay pot balanced by a piece of cloth on their bald head. It looked like they were about to drop the pot, then their neck instinctively followed the pot around until it settled again. Then they cautiously turned around to look at me.It was a young boy. No, it was a young girl, maybe in her late teens? I could never tell ages in this world yet. They all aged really slowly.

  “Hello?! Can I help you?” she asked. She looked so severe with her bald head and no makeup. She was wearing a brown short-sleeved tunic and loose-fitting pants and leather thong shoes.

  “Yes, please. I am looking for Matemai.” She just looked at me and waited. I sort of assumed the “can you help me find him” was implied. I waited and she waited. This was a girl comfortable with silence. I waited some more. Now I just wanted to see how far she could take it. The silence became awkward.

  “Say something!” drawled Jena. He was enjoying this. So was I, in fact. I liked this girl, I just didn’t know what her deal was.

  “I am looking for Matemai,” I said again.

  “You said that already,” she said, her face perfectly blank. Another long pause.

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  “Can you help me find him? This is his camp, right?”

  “Why?” She eyed me suspiciously.

  “Why, what?”

  “Why should I help you find him?” Because I asked. Seriously, what was this girl on about? “Who are you?” Ah, I was a stranger. In this world were people were suspicious of strangers, or was this just me? At least this time she talked to me. In the morning people pretended that I didn't exist.

  “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself.” I apologized with a slight bow of my head. “I’m maMlilo. I came earlier and met with Matemai in the morning.”

  At the mention of my name, her face brightened. She set down the clay pot so quickly that I thought it might crack. The cloth she was using to balance the pot slid down her head as she set the pot on the ground. She picked it up quickly and wrapped it around her waist. Then she straightened and half whispered in awe, “You are maMlilo! Please forgive me. But it’s not safe these days.” These days?

  She looked around as if looking for something, or someone. She must not have found what she was looking for because she turned to me and said,“Matemai is expecting you. I will take you to him. This way, follow me, please.” She was vibrating with excitement.

  “That’s a complete turnaround! You are famous around these parts,” Jena commented to me. I could answer back Jena and not look like a mad woman talking to herself. I did wonder though what Matemai had told them.

  “Sorry, I am at a disadvantage here. What shall I call you?” As I speed up to keep up with the girl.

  “My name is Ruva.” She turned around and did a small curtsy. “I joined Matemai’s camp this afternoon. He is planning to stay longer here now that the Nyadzire Ruins have been found. He wants to explore. Can you imagine!?” She waved her hands as she spoke as if right in front of us were the ruins.

  “Nyadzire Ruins?” Jena and I said at the same time, but of course Ruva only heard me. We weren’t so much asking as were we exclaiming our shock. But for Ruva it was good enough. She didn’t need much encouragement to talk more on this subject.

  “Yes, the Ruins just appeared from nowhere this afternoon in the middle of the forest.” This was something I hadn’t expected. “Matemai is going to organize teams to go in and explore.” The way she said “explore” is how I imagine some people would say “money.” If Matemai doesn’t let her explore, I think she might just sneak in alone. But the more worrisome problem was, how could a whole mountain not be visible to people? How long has it been hidden for?

  Ruva was charging towards the center, past many people busy doing whatever they were doing. Unlike this afternoon, every single one of the people either mumbled or waved a greeting at me. It was so surreal.

  “I know her, that’s maMlilo!” I heard one boy whispering to his friends. By now the sun was setting, but I could still make out his face. That was Zuruvi and maNyoni’s boy. “Hey, Ruva! Where are you taking maMlilo?!” he shouted.

  “To see Matemai!” shouted Ruva back. At Ruva’s answer, there was shoving and nudging by the boys around Zuruvi’s boy. He was grinning, “I told you that’s her. My parents…” We went out of earshot. Now he claimed to know me. When I met him he didn’t even so much as glance at me.

  By the time we got to Matemai, we had acquired an audience. If I was surprised at the size of the camp now, I was even more surprised at what was going on at Matemai’s campfire. He was sitting around with Mhazi, Mhazi’s two apprentices, three other men, and two women. They all stood up when I arrived in a welcoming gesture, smiling. Mhazi and his men were smiling too. There was an air of joviality. I expected this of Matemai, but not Mhazi and his people. Not after how they had treated me in the morning.

  “I think someone started the party early?” wondered Jena, pointing to the pots around the fire with liquid in them. I could smell the beer, but I didn’t think that was the reason for the excitement I could sense. I didn’t think Mhazi was the kind to get drunk at work, and he was very much at work right now. Matemai, for all his happy-go-lucky attitude, was a pretty shrewd guy. I didn’t see him getting drunk with a camp full of villagers and a party to attend later.

  “Ah, maMlilo! You came!” Matemai greeted me. “Everyone, meet maMlilo. maMlilo, meet everyone.”

  “Succinct introductions,” chimed in Jena sarcastically from the peanut gallery. It was going to be a challenge to run two conversations simultaneously without looking like I was a crazy woman.

  The “everyone” waved and mumbled their greeting to me. The three men and women were wearing similar clothing. Sort of a cheaper version of Mhazi and his apprentices’ armor. Could they be the village warriors? They looked mid to late twenties, but in this world what did that even mean? Ruva was looking at them with stars in her eyes. Important villagers, then. What was going on? Surely this level of excitement couldn’t be just about the ruins or the bira.

  “Thank you, Ruva.” Matemai dismissed Ruva and everyone else who was trying to inch closer. I felt slightly sorry for the girl. She so wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to say, be careful what you wish for. The young are so eager to be adults. They don’t realize there is no take-backs. Once you are an adult, that’s it. But I didn’t say it because I knew it was a waste of air. She wouldn’t hear what I was saying, not when her heart was set on “exploring”.

  “Matemai? A word, please? In private?” I said to Matemai.

  “Of course, this way please.” Matemai was bouncing with excitement and he led the way. We made our way to his private tent. As soon as we got in and Matemai had activated his silence ward, I rounded on him and asked, “Tell me, how could everyone not see Nyadzire until today? What is Nyadzire?”

  “How do you know about Nyadzire?” He frowned.

  “Besides the fact that everyone in this campsite is talking about it, I was there this afternoon.”

  “You were there? In the Ruins? This afternoon?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes. Now what are Nyadzire Ruins?”

  “No, wait. You were in Nyadzire Ruins today?”

  “Yes.” I said simply and waited. Matemai was having a hard time wrapping his mind around this fact.

  “Before I answer your questions, tell me everything.” He said as he sat cross-legged on the ground. I sat opposite and hesitated. I wasn’t sure how much to tell him.

  Jena knew why I hesitate and said, “We want to know what’s going on, and if things go wrong, we can run away.” Some comfort that was. But it reminded me that I wasn’t alone. And Jena wasn’t wrong, we could always run away. So I told him everything, well, not everything, but everything about figuring out the mist residue, finding the source, and running away. I didn’t tell him about my suspicions about the Mist coming because of me, or that I suspected that everyone in the village had been or was under the residue influence, because it was all speculation.

  Once I finished with my explanation Matemai looked worried. Leaned forward and held his head in his hands. “I think I messed up. I sent word to Ishe about the Nyadzire Ruins.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” I didn't see what was wrong with that.

  “He is going to send people, and he is going to find out about you.”

  “Not if you don’t tell anyone what I told you.”

  “But how am I going to explain the fact that I know there is a mist source in there? I can’t just let people go in without knowing what they might potentially face?” I didn’t know why I was surprised that he actually cared about the villagers. Despite the fact that he had magically captured me in the morning, all I had known of Matemai so far indicated that he was a good person.

  Ishe know about me was not a good thing but letting people in the Ruins where they can potentially trigger the Mist by opening the gate we closed was not an option.

  “You won’t be able to solve that problem now. Instead, let’s focus on getting more information. Ishe’s people are not yet here. If they come, or when they come, we have our special option,” Jena said with humor. I smiled and nodded to him. We could always run away.

  “Is he here? Is he here?” Matemai repeated himself, eyes were wide open with excitement. Ah, you can never keep Matemai down for too long. I knew which “he” he was talking about. My smile and nod gave me away. Serious, we have a big problem on our hands and Matemai forgets all about it as soon as he realizes the dragon was here.

  Jena grinned and said to me,“Don’t be mad, I have a super friend!” I snorted.

  “What is he saying?” Matemai was looking around like he would find Jena somewhere.

  “Nothing important. He wants to know about the Nyadzire Ruins.” Well not important to Matemai and Jena just like me really wanted to know about the Nyadzire Ruins.

  “Ah, that is easy. I have a book and a map. Don’t you want to do this with the others? I think it will be a good idea for everyone involved to know as much as they can.”

  “Sure, but first we need to get our story straightened out just in case Ishe has spies around.” And we did just that. We decided that, for the moment, there would be no mention of me having been to the Nyadzire Ruins.