It was morning, a few hours before lunch. Zara and Shaman Zu walked into the living room.
"You're here," Edwin raised his head from the bedding.
"How is his condition? Can he walk?" Shaman Zu asked Mama Valentina, who sat beside Edwin.
"He just wants patient treatment," she smiled. "He already helped Jefferson with the chickens this morning." Edwin dropped his head; his cover was blown.
"Good. I was worried." Shaman Zu nodded. "Brat, the coming-of-age ceremony is this evening. Get yourself ready."
"Grandpa, I still can't sit, even though I can walk." Edwin lay on his belly, voice weak.
"I'll be at the shrine." Shaman Zu left.
Zara had stayed silent the whole time, his face heavy with something unspoken.
"How many?" Mama Valentina asked quietly.
"Thirteen," Zara replied, taking a seat.
Edwin understood Zara's mood.
Zara filled them in.
Fifty students had attended the pre-awakening classes. Fifteen withdrew, including Edwin, who was legally barred. Thirteen died during the ceremony itself. It was a tragedy, but one the village had long accepted as normal. Thirteen more failed to awaken. Only nine succeeded.
"By the way," Zara added, staring at the ceiling, "the chubby boy, William's dog… he didn't make it. He died during the awakening."
"What!" Edwin sat up too fast, pain shooting through him. "Fattie didn't make it…" He had to act like old Edwin.
"The slim one failed to awaken," Zara continued. "He's alive. You'll see him at the coming-of-age."
"What about Mateo and Isabella? And Molai" The awakening was dangerous; one had to survive the first three days as an awakened to truly leave death's door behind. Back on Earth, he was a home‑rocked cripple without friends. He was only three years older than old Edwin's friends. He wanted them to be his friends too.
"They all awakened," Zara said. "Barlelina, Healer Alma's granddaughter, Riccardo—Elder Routh's nephew, that bastard William, and two others I don't know but have seen before."
The worry in Edwin's chest vanished, replaced with wrath that the council had denied him the chance to awaken.
---
Evening arrived. It was time for the coming-of-age ceremony.
At the council courtyard the mood was somber. Only thirty‑seven fifteen‑year‑olds stood there. At such a young age they had already begun parting ways with friends forever.
The seats were divided into three sections. The first row held nine plush cotton‑covered chairs for the nine who had awakened. The second had thirteen hard wooden seats for those brave enough to attempt but who failed. The last section had no seats at all; the cowards who withdrew stood at the back. For Edwin the arrangement was almost a mercy; he still could not sit.
Four figures took the stage: Shaman Zu, Village Head Thaine, and two elders.
"Today our village has been blessed with nine new Seekers," Thaine announced. "It is worthy of celebration. But something else is also worth celebrating: our village will receive thirty‑seven new citizens this evening."
The students were silent, eyes shining with dreams and ambition. Not all of them.
As the moon rose clear and bright, Shaman Zu stepped forward with a bowl in his hands.
"It was a day like this, several centuries ago, when our first ancestor—the founder of Amala, the great mother guided by Venerable Mola—arrived at this place and named it the council courtyard. She envisioned it as the beating heart of the village her children would settle for ages."
"She then walked down to Third Igarape and fished a Curimbata. She carried the blood of that rare fish, found only in our tributary, up here and drank it, symbolizing that the village to come would build its life with the help of Third Igarape and the fruits it bears."
One by one the students stepped onto the stage and took a sip from the bowl. They had come of age.
After the ceremony Edwin found his friends. They offered sympathy for his failure to awaken; he congratulated them on their success.
Edwin took his leave, carrying a flaming torch. He was supposed to walk home with Zara, but Zara had left early—diarrhea, he said. Grandpa Zu was conducting a special sacrifice with the village elders to thank Venerable Mola and the ancestors.
As he turned his head forward again, he felt a heavy punch slamming into his face. The blow was powerful. He crashed to the ground.
"..." He stayed down a moment, dizzy. He spat out two broken teeth.
"Stand up, demon! I'm here to settle the score."
Edwin forced himself to look up.
It was William, and he had awakened. The force of the punch made that clear.
Immediately Edwin scrambled to his feet and ran toward the shrine.
The council courtyard had the academy to its west and the marketplace to its south. There were two paths home. Edwin took the northeast route.
"You're not escaping, demon!" Another figure blocked his way and kicked him backward.
While he was still analyzing, William's fist crashed into his chest. Edwin staggered, coughing blood.
On the ground Edwin rolled aside to dodge a hammering kick. He scooped sand and flung it at William, but William dodged.
"Hahaha! Devil, you think that trick will work twice? You humiliated me. You took my ear. Today I will take both of yours."
William drew a sharp knife from behind his back and nodded to the other man.
The accomplice grabbed Edwin and slammed him down repeatedly, twelve times. Edwin's right arm snapped with a sickening crack.
The man's one arm coiled around Edwin's chest, the other gripping his head.
William seized Edwin's right ear.
"Please, Lord William, forgive this lowly nobody!" Edwin begged, tears streaming. "I will be your dog from today!"
William did not stop. The knife felt ice‑cold as it sliced off the entire upper part of the ear. Edwin screamed.
William grabbed the left ear and cut that one too. The accomplice released Edwin.
William kicked him. "I'm not done. I have to cleanse the village of this curse."
Edwin threw another handful of dirt, staggered up, and ran toward the bushes along Third Igarape. William and the man chased him.
The accomplice moved faster. His blade slashed Edwin's left leg. Edwin fell and rolled down the slope. He tried to stand but couldn't—his leg was broken. The man was a warrior‑path Awakened. William had become one too, the most common path in the valley.
Edwin forced himself up on one leg, pain screaming through him. He had reached the river path.
"Lord William, I'm only here to monitor you."
"Cleaning the village of this curse will prove your willingness to protect it. Your grandfather and the elders will see you differently," the man urged.
William froze. "I… I can't do this. I can't kill a fellow villager." He had never killed anyone before.
"Lord William, even though you are the most doted‑on grandson, you are not the only one. If you refuse, you are giving up your chance to inherit after your grandfather."
"The Shaman… how can we go against him?" William tried one last excuse.
"Lord William, the Venerable is a fake god. Do you think the elders believe in that made‑up deity? When was the last time the land spirit answered prayers besides repentance rituals? Haha—I'm sure it was during the era of the ancestors, right?"
Both William and the bleeding Edwin were stunned.
Edwin kept hopping. He fell, stood again, but could go no farther.
The man ran up and slashed Edwin's other leg. Edwin collapsed.
William knelt, eyes closed, and thrust the knife into Edwin's stomach.
"Please… don't kill me…" Edwin begged, sobbing.
William stopped. He looked at the blood on his hands and screamed. Tears streamed down his face.
"Lord William, he's not dead yet. Hurry, we have to go before someone sees us!" the man pushed. "After this the village is cleansed of its misfortune."
Edwin used the moment to roll himself into the bushes along Third Igarape. He slipped like a stone down the gentle slope and plunged into the tributary.
"These damn nobles, I have to babysit this chicken," the man muttered as he jumped into the river after him.