by Al McConnell (aka hyena cub)
This is a story about a young Barbic clan youth about to go through his Rite of Passage. He is part of a clan isolated from most of the Gummies long ago, and now find themselves dealing with impending disaster for the entire colony.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1:
By the flickering light of a small fire, arranged on the barren grounds of the desert, two Barbics spoke of grim matters. "Time is growing short, Bryon," one of them said. "If we do not find this relic by midsummer, we shall all of us die. The Valley is the only place within hundreds of leagues that can support our clan as we are. If the valley is destroyed, we have nowhere to go."
"I know, I know, Sentka. Don't you think I've gone over this a hundred times in my mind?" The man sighed, putting his head in his hand, taking in a big breath of the fresh desert air. "The mages of the clan have been working on it. The scrolls we uncovered in the ancient caves are difficult to translate. But they believe that we are close to a solution."
"I hope so," Sentka said, sitting down on the still-warm sand. "Because our own journey was a miserable failure, and we must now report that failure to the clan when we arrive on the morrow."
Bryon shook his head. "We tried. And that is all that we can do. Come on, we must catch some sleep. And then we will see what the mages have discovered, for their Rite ends tomorrow."
Sentka nodded his head and lay down on his bedroll, but neither Barbic got much sleep that night.
---
Notaku Barbic did not get much sleep that night, either. In two months' time, when he turned thirteen, he would be going through his Rite of Passage, known among Barbics as the Test of Bearhood. In a week's time, if he was able to complete the tasks given to him, he would truly be an adult.
This was especially important to Notaku. Notaku was a small bear, even by Gummi standards, and rather slim as well. Even now, at twelve, he was often mistaken by those who did not know him well as someone much younger. He had worn glasses since he was too young to remember it, and saw everything in a blur when he did not wear them. But the Test of Bearhood, when completed, was always announced throughout the Valley, and there would be no doubt of his age, or his bravery.
But that was if he completed it.
Restless, Notaku stood from his bed and walked outside to gaze out at the Valley. The Valley was a huge cleft in the desert, where giant trees grew, providing the foundation for the clan's homes. The boy walked out onto a branch easily four times the thickness of his body, and simply watched.
It was fairly late, and most of the Barbics were already asleep, or at least inside their homes. There was flickering light from oil lamps from several homes, homes that blended so well with the trees they were built in that upon a casual glance, one might not notice that they were anything but trees.
Notaku's home was near the top of the Valley, which afforded him a spectacular view of the flatlands beyond. Gazing here did not exactly help Notaku's nerves. For one, it showed him the unforgiving wastelands that he would soon have to brave to prove he was ready to take his place among his people as an adult of the clan. But it also showed the very top of Derelict Peak, which had the entire clan worrying about whether they would be alive come the middle of summer.
---
It had all begun quite by accident, when the lead mages of the clan were out on a vision quest. All Gummi bears, by nature, have the ability to tap into the magical bloodstreams of the earth, but there were those among the clan who made it their entire existence. These were the ones who acted as healers, and guides for the people. They took care of the sick and injured; they advised the warriors in the rare times of war in the isolated desert. They used their magic to help the crops grow in the hard ground, and to bring rain when it was needed.
And sometimes, they got information through visions and scrying about natural disasters and other threats.
A group of five mages went out into the desert, to renew their bond with the earth, and to receive their visions. They had not been seeking information about Derelict Peak at all, they had only been performing the spring vision-rites. But in the middle of the rite, the youngest, and thus the most receptive of the lot cried out in terror at what he was seeing. Afraid that some malign influence was attacking the young man, the others tried to bring him from his trance, but the vision was too powerful, and the youth's eyes remained closed.
Within minutes, it was over, and the young man opened his eyes wide, his face pale beneath his dark green fur. "Are you all right?" asked the eldest, a Barbic woman whose weathered face had seen a great many summers.
"I...I'm all right," said the youth. "But - but a vision. I've had a vision, of our Valley! Of the death of our Valley, and our clan!"
Obviously, this news were greeted with dismay, and worry by the other mages. They questioned him carefully about what he had seen. The youth looked into the distance, where the jagged apex of Derelict Peak stabbed the sky above, and nodded in its direction. "There," he said. "I don't know how, or why, but Derelict Peak will be the destruction of our Valley. From within it, the ground will shake, and great cracks will open in the earth." The youth shuddered, taking in a big breath. "I saw the Valley collapse, the people living there crushed beneath the rock and the sand, the great trees cracking, and homes splintering, and l-liquid fire burying it all..." He swallowed hard. "And at the end, a gem. A blue gem."
The mages exchanged glances among themselves. If this indeed was a true prophecy, then their clan would be doomed to death either way, for they were many hundreds of miles from anywhere else that was livable. And without the Valley and its delicate balance of life, they would not be able to find food or water enough to keep everyone alive. There was the Jungle, ten days' journey from the Valley, but that was forbidden land; those who lived there did not welcome settlers. It was rumored that elvish folk lived there, and they did not take so well to intruders.
While the eldest went to comfort the shaken youth, the second eldest spoke. "First, we must determine if this was a genuine vision," he said. "Because we have been fooled before by malignant forces, trying to mislead us."
The eldest nodded. "We will have to go back to the Valley, use the scrying stone, for it cannot be fooled by anything less than the gods themselves. The trouble is, that Rite takes weeks to prepare and a full week to carry out." She looked down at the young bear, who had gotten a hold of himself and was taking several big breaths. "Do you know how long we have?"
"Well," said the youth. "The moon was dark, and the summer plants were in full bloom."
"That means midsummer," said the eldest. "So we have some time. Very well then. We will tell the people what we have seen. They will likely want to send people out to gather what information they can while we prepare, and perhaps we can find a way to prevent this."
"Then come," said the second. "We must hurry." The small group of bears stood and rushed back to give their news.
---
That had been two months ago. And tomorrow, the mages would be able to tell the people what they learned. Three of them had not been seen since, as they concentrated on the rite, while the others took over the duties of healers and advisors. Notaku's own father and a friend of his had journeyed out into the desert only two weeks before, the third group to do so since the visions had been received. They were due back tomorrow as well.
Notaku looked around him as he heard a noise on the branch, and saw his mother coming out to see if he was all right. "Come on in, Notaku," Kuma said, smiling at the worried boy. "It's getting late. And you will need to rest well in the nights preceding your Test."
The boy turned, and nodded, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. They had this annoying habit of slipping down so that the top half of his vision was blurry, and the bottom half clear. "I'm just nervous," he told his mother.
"About what?" she asked, as they turned towards the flickering lights of their home.
"Everything. Derelict Peak. My Test. Dad."
His mother sighed softly. "I know what you mean. So many cares for a young bear. But your father should be home tomorrow, and tomorrow evening, the mages will give their information to the clan. And as for your Test, I have the fullest confidence in you." The woman smiled at her uncertain son, and hugged him. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."
Nodding, the boy followed.
---
Bryon was Notaku's father, and he came home early in the morning, before many people had yet wakened. He and Sentka slipped quietly into their homes to rest after their wearying journey.
During breakfast, Notaku asked his father what his quest had found, and Bryon told him that they had found nothing that could possibly be of help, and that he hoped the mages had some useful information. "Because if they do not," he said, "then we must leave our Valley and chance the wilds." Bryon's voice was calm and matter-of-fact, but Notaku knew his father well enough to know that he was very worried.
"When will they gather the clan?" Notaku asked.
"We will be assembling this evening, after supper," Bryon replied. "And I pray to Gum that we find a solution."
That evening, everyone who lived in the Valley assembled at the very middle, where a great open area sat for meetings such as this one. There were levels of rock surrounding the entire area, upon which many cubs (and a fair few adults) sat or stood, waiting for the mages to speak. Notaku sat on one of these, his short legs swinging back and forth as his eyes took in the scene. Barbic Gummi bears filled the entire, rocky compound, talking to one another and milling about. From the oldest, most wrinkled elder, to the tiniest infant cubs in their mothers arms, they were all there. It was a sea of browns and reds, with the occasional green or blue or yellow splashes among the earth tones. Barbics did not have the diversity of color that their Glen kin did, but there were a few.
The sun was setting in the valley, and the sky overhead was a quiet, deep shade of blue. To the west, the blue lightened until bands of pink and purple crossed its expanse where the sun settled into the horizon. Pinpricks of white shone more and more as one looked eastward and night approached.
Some of the younger cubs, proud of the responsibility, had been asked to light all the lanterns in the compound as the light left them, and soon the faces in the crowd were lit with warm, dancing firelight. There was a gleeful "Blecka!" from one of the infants in the throng, and several people laughed. A light, warm breeze ruffled the fur of the crowd and the sound of insects buzzed as the night creatures began to stir.
The assembly did not have to wait long. From the mages' abode staggered out the three who had performed their rite, exhausted from the long hours or work, and the energy it took to receive such visions. One of them was the youth who had the vision to begin with, the other was the eldest. The third was a young woman who had been a ranking mage for several years.
The eldest spoke. "My good Barbics!" she cried, her old voice still ringing with power. "Your attention, please! Our Rite is finished, and we know what must be done!" There were excited murmurings among the crowd at this declaration, but they did not last long; everyone wanted to hear what the mages had to say.
"It's about time," a grouchy old bear behind Notaku grumbled. "We've only been waiting all spring." Notaku sent a glare the old geezer's way. Most Barbics knew what respect was, but there were always a handful that didn't care. And Notaku had never heard of a village that did not have at least one village grouch in it!
The mage continued. "Our visions have told us this much: the gem our young mage here saw at the end of the vision is what we need to get to prevent this terrible tragedy from happening. This gem is what has kept the mountain stable, has kept the roiling rock beneath calm, and dormant. But thanks to the greed of humans, this gem was stolen from the mountain by a human explorer near the waning of winter, as the thief obviously hoped to harness this energy for himself!"
There was an angry buzz at these words, as most Barbics knew that humans were trouble. Had not the greater part of their troubles been caused by, or at least involved the furless creatures?
"The human was killed by the power of the gem," the youth who had the original vision added. "And the gem taken into safety. But we do not know by whom, or where."
"How do we get it then?" called a young man from up front. "How do we return it to its rightful home?"
"One among us must go on a quest," the eldest announced. "One bear...and he must go alone. Furthermore, there are certain requirements that this bear must have, else the quest will fail, and we shall surely perish. And this quest will be dangerous." Murmurs of uneasiness passed through the crowd. "And so...there are five Barbics here that we must speak to. And he or she who is chosen to go will be announced within three days."
Exhausted, the eldest slumped back against the rock wall behind her, letting the younger woman there announce the names. "Jerrel Glenson!" she called. "Sayla Ursine! Kailee WoodDweller! Sentka Gumm! And Bryon Barbic! The rest of you, we are finished here for those who would return to their homes!"
Notaku gasped as his father's name was called, standing up so suddenly that his glasses fell and would have shattered on the rock had he not caught them in time. "No..." he whispered. Surely such a mission would kill his father! He bit his lip and sank back against the rock, feeling all of a sudden as if he, not the mages, had gone through the weeks-long ritual.
Excited talk rippled among the Barbics as the five bears went up to hold council with the mages and the crowd began to break up. Notaku followed a group of bears who lived near him, as they headed back to their dwellings, or to the tavern to talk about the extraordinary quest. Notaku met up with his mother, who gave him a reassuring squeeze around the shoulders. "If your father is chosen," she said quietly, "He will triumph. I am certain of this. Let's go home and wait for him, perhaps he will be able to tell us what the mages decided."
Too worried to trust himself to speak, the boy nodded, and followed her home.
Turned out that Notaku's curiosity was rather disappointed when his father came home that night. He asked him what the mages had decided, and Bryon had said that he could not say...yet. That Notaku would have to be patient. The boy tried for a bit to persuade his father for even a hint, but Bryon remained silent, and finally the boy gave up.