Nature's Champion

Balance. A delicate, yet vital concept for anything in life. Our world and everything we know relies on the balance between the elements. Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Nature, Light, and Dark. No one has ever met the physical embodiment of these elements, but we have faith in their existence. Why? you ask. Because without them, our world would die. But with them?

We thrive.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are Claimed and given magic, and those who are not. Those who are Claimed are given extraordinary abilities from the spirit of the element that claims them. They are bestowed upon us at the Carum: A coming-of-age ceremony on one’s sixteenth birthday. The Carum is a ceremony of sacred honour, for it decides your future in the community. Once Claimed, you become a Reya, a wielder of magic, and are assigned to a member of the community, who will train you in the ways of your magic. If you are not Claimed, you become a Liyo, one without magic.

Before the Carum, we all have our duties in the village. Caring for the new-borns and elderly, cultivating crops and vegetation, irrigation, hunting, and of course, there’s always the cooking - our village eats every meal together, as a community.

Once you’ve been Claimed, your duties change. Your schedule changes for training in magic and you are also given two new duties: Building, mainly construction and repairs, and the protection of the village.

There hasn’t been an attack on our village in many years, but it is “better to be prepared”. Those are a few wise words from our village Chief, my mother, Kali. She wields magic of the Fire element. Her husband, my father, Jay, wields magic of the Earth element and together they have three children. Penny, my sister, is the eldest and she has Earth magic, like my father. My brother, Miles, is the next eldest, and he wields magic of the Fire element, like my mother. And then there’s me. My name is Kai, and much to my family’s disappointment, I wield no magic. I am a Liyo. The first in my entire family’s history…

It’s not uncommon for someone to not be Claimed, but it is unusual for a member of the Chief’s family not to be Claimed. As it goes, Liyo are assigned to a Reya to assist in their training. As luck would have it, I was assigned to Tess, my best friend Zazu’s sister. She is an Air Reya. Zazu is a Liyo like me, and his Reya is my older brother, Miles. We joke about the irony all the time. It’s difficult to not get along with someone with whom you spend so much time, and as a result, Zazu and Miles are quite close, like brothers. They share interests and are almost always deep in conversation. Tess and I are also quite close, although not as much as the two of them are.

There is a point, at the end of every day, when the village elders encourage everyone to enjoy the afternoon quietness and take a break before the preparations for dinner begin. At this point Zazu and I always hang out, doing whatever crazy thing we’ve decided is a good idea. He is the one who comes up with all the ideas, and I am the one who goes along blindly, no matter what. All I know, is that as long as we are together, there is always fun to be had - usually followed by us getting in trouble with my mother as we are “supposed to be better examples for the other kids”.

Zazu and I are very different. Him, with his always-tousled hair, bright, piercing hazel eyes, light skin, his short, curly hair, colourful clothes, and slim figure – compared to me, who always has my long black hair tucked neatly behind my ears, or just tied back. My eyes are a dull grey, compared to his. And being the son of the Chief, I always have to wear prim and proper clothes which I find so dull that I am always jealous of his ability to freely wear whatever makes him happy. But I think that it is all of these differences, that make us friends. If we were the same, there would be nothing interesting about either of us. The way we behave when we’re together, you would swear we were related. I’d go insane if it weren’t for the part of every day when we’re together and can just be ourselves away from our duties. We know so much about each other, that sometimes it feels like we can communicate without words.

Every day we meet in the forest just behind our village’s crop field. Once there, it’s as if the rest of the world melts away – like it doesn’t exist. We stay for hours just talking and laughing, and having the time of our lives, but we have to be back before dark because it is believed the forest changes once night falls, and it is no longer safe. No one tells us why it isn’t safe, because “times are different now”, according to the Chief. But we have a general idea based on the history books in the Elder Hall, a room in the Great Hall, full of the history of our people, and stories of the past. Most of the story books tell tales of the most impossibly outrageous creatures… Although that doesn’t stop us from reading them.

Nevertheless, every afternoon, just before dusk, Zazu and I head back to the village to be just in time for communal dinner. Tonight, however, we head back early as the communal dinner this time, is a special occasion. It is the Night of the Solstice.

This is a special event, as it means all Reya feel closer to their element and can use their magic to a greater extent than on any other day of the year. Once the whole village is gathered inside the Great Hall, the Chief will begin the evening’s festivities by addressing the village in the customary way of our people, with a showcase of her powers as Chief and as a Reya. With my mother, its as if fireworks of flames dance through the air above our heads – calm and controlled, yet full of a ferociousness. Once that is over, she begins to speak.

“My fellow brothers and sisters of Firi, I greet you on this auspicious occasion in friendship and joy. As is tradition, please join me in a feast fit for the Elements themselves.”

As it is every year, the evening is started with a huge feast, with enough food to last a week. This is then followed by some of the Liyo doing our traditional dance of thanks. To end the evening, our village elders, Jiu – an Earth Reya who is very involved with the care of our crops, Vina, Jiu’s wife – a Water Reya who helps him with the crops, my Grandmother, mama Codu – a Fire Reya , and my Grandfather, papa Faro – an Air Reya, tell us the story of The Great Battle.

This story comes from one of the books in the Elder Hall, I remember fondly along with the memories of reading it with Zazu when we were younger. It tells the tale of the war that raged across the Earth, like a savage beast with no mercy. The war amongst our people.