Dream Weaver

one

The sharp curved sword cut through the thin aging paper between the steel rods of Aecha's fan. Quickly snapping it shut, she turned the fan as hard as possible to flip the sword from Baruti's hand to hers. Aecha pulled the sword out from her own weapon and pointed it at Baruti's neck.

"Haven't you already learned the steel fans? You should be teaching her new weapons, Baruti."

Aecha's mother, Nalah, stood on the bamboo porch of the training room. She stopped fanning herself to clasp both her hands behind her back. The soft breeze blew the fabric of her printed kaftan— the end of her signature single braided hairstyle gently blew as well. Almost uninterested, she scratched her temple with her pinky finger.

"It's repetition, love, and a master never stops training their main weapon," Baruti said with a laugh as he wiped the line of sweat from his brown forehead.

"Well, put the fans down. Breakfast is ready at home."

Nalah turned around without making sure her husband or child were behind her, the noise of her wooden sandals slowly getting quieter. Baruti and Aecha walked around the sandy fighting pit, collecting all the weapons that had been piled around the training room. With care, each weapon was put back in its place. Aecha turned to look at her father who was admiring the tear in her fan. He gently held the back of her head and tapped their foreheads together. Baruti gently massaged her right shoulder trying to alleviate the tension in her muscles— Aecha ignored the slight sting of the silver bands around her father's hands.

"You're doing good, pahori, just the throwing stars and chakram left. We'll have to replace the fan coverings before you go, you must remind me."

Aecha smiled as they sat on the porch putting on their leather slippers. Pahori, duckling. Her father's name for her whenever he was proud. They walked to their home in the middle of Baga Village. Baga, the last village of the ekehlay left untouched by plain men.

Men without magic, taoba, felt threatened by ones blessed with it from the gods, ekehlay. Ekehlay weren't seen as a blessing but half-demons by their non-magic counterparts. Closest to the capital of Dasu and spreading throughout the lands of Gaimi, the emperor killed or enslaved all ekehlay he could find until a few rogue groups remained. Any left alive now lived their lives under the commands of their taoba brethren. They were marked by silver bands around their hands with carvings of spells to keep them docile and unable to use magic in any way that would harm taoba. Silver bands marked and bonded them to the very bloodline of the royal family.

Baga became the village of escapees and survivors hidden between the Bungasan Mountains. The last without silver bands— except for the few like her father, refugees who were constantly reminded of the freedom they could've had. Many groups of ekehlay became a single tribe together. Ekehlay like the mind readers, the fire starters, and ones like Aecha's family. Dream weavers like her father and necromancers like her mother. It wasn't uncommon for different groups to mix in Baga. The village didn't see many pure-grouped ekehlay as the years went by.

Aecha and her father sat on the edge of the wooden porch that wrapped around the entirety of the raised home. They washed the sand from the training area off of their feet, enjoying the coolness that the jug of water brought. If it wasn't for the flowers put around their porch, Aecha wouldn't be able to tell her own house from the rest of the ones in Baga.

They were all light wooden houses— slightly raised above the ground. Sturdy porches wrapped around the entire house, two sets of walls where the outer were only put up during the storm while the inner was thin paper stretched onto wooden frames to let in the light. Almost everything was wood or paper. Baga wasn't as advanced as the other cities in Gaimi, they couldn't afford to be. Not without drawing attention. So, they chose to avoid the risk entirely and live the way the ancients did. The only building with electricity, and built like the newer stone buildings of other Gaimi cities, was the main hall that held the telegraph and radio for spying on the rest of Gaimi.