Totem 11: Change of Plans (Patreon)

If I were back on Earth, the decision to go to a new city would be no big deal. Yeah, I’d have to apply to the government for a permit to transfer or get a visa to another city dome. But grease the right hand, and anything could be done. I would be off on the next underground train or, if I was feeling fancy, an enclosed AI taxi to the next city within hours.

Here, things moved at a different pace. For one thing, I might be moving away but there was still the farm to take care of. I wasn't going to leave my parents in a lurch right at the end of the harvest season and a Deformed attack.

I wasn't a completely selfish jerk, only your regular kind of a jerk.

Thankfully, we didn't get another attack of the Deformed. You never could tell with them. Sometimes, there would be several attacks, one night after the other like in one of those old zombie stories. It felt unrelenting until it just… stopped. Sometimes it would just be one big push, like now.

So I stayed and helped clean up the damage.

Ash didn’t show up again until two days later, just when I was starting to worry that he had forgotten all about me. Suddenly, one morning he was just sitting in my parent's kitchen as if he belonged there.

My mom was visibly annoyed at his presence, but as my dad had already labeled him an honored guest, she performed her hosting duty and served the guy breakfast.

I made introductions, and Ash, without bothering to ask if I had discussed this with my parents or not, said that I would be leaving with him two days from now.

My mother bit her lip, and I felt a little bad for her. But she didn't outright object, though she did keep glancing at Ash oddly as if looking for hidden divine marks or not. He was probably the only fully human adult she’d seen.

After breakfast, I accompanied Ash outside, and we sat again in the meadow to cultivate.

"Gathering the natural energy easier than it did before," I said. "Like there's more energy in the air. Am I more in tune with that kind of thing, or what?"

"Yes," Ash said, "but also the Deformed release their corrupted energy out into the world upon their death. The world inhales it and then starts exhaling it again as normal, pure energy. Things will balance back to normal within a few weeks, assuming there are no more Deformed attacks."

I looked at him. "So, do they teach you this kind of thing in the city magical school, or whatever?"

His eyes were shut, but I sensed his attention, anyway. It felt like a physical weight. "You keep calling it a school as if this was a scholarly pursuit. Make no mistake, Seth, you will be fighting. The path of pure cultivation is a hard one to walk. Those who advance do so through violence."

I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. "Violence like… killing Deformed, or other people on the, uh, pure path?"

He let out a laugh. "Deformed, of course, though I can't say that no student has never been attacked by another." Now he did look at me. "You have a very cynical mind."

I didn’t bother to tell him that what I had was an Earth mindset, where, when the rations ran low, things got ugly. Also, there had been that remake of The Hunger Games that came out a year or so before I came here. I'd never gone that far, but my hands weren't exactly clean, either.

For example, I lied my way into getting listed for the colony papers.

I wondered if that had something to do with me getting dropped off on this planet like a fish out of water.

I shrugged and Ash let it drop. "Cultivate what you can while you’re here. It is a low-energy area, but you are just beginning your journey, so this energy is good for you." He inhaled and exhaled again, this time with a touch of frustration to it. "It does almost nothing for me. Now, how is your relationship with your Totem?"

"Relationship?" I said.

"Yes, your Totem is not a hammer to use to pound down a nail and then put it away when not needed. It is your village's way to use it like a tool. You want to walk a different path, yes? Then you must get to know your goose, and through that, you will get to know yourself.”

I... guess that made sense, and I felt a little ashamed that I hadn't been doing much other than feeding it.

"So... what do I do?" I looked down at my stomach. "Hello, little guy?"

"It is still young and still developing. You must think to it while you feed it energy. It may take some time to respond."

"Respond?" I asked.

"Oh yes," he smiled, real and true. "My Totem and I often have meaningful conversations."

Ash's totem was some kind of large cat or tiger. I had a weird Calvin and Hobbes moment that I quickly blinked away.

"Okay. But it's... sleeping."

"That's fine. You would sleep a lot too if you didn’t have much stimulation in your life."

I suppose that made sense. Also, was it weird I felt a little bad for neglecting it?

I closed my eyes and thought, 'Hello there,' to the little creature.

It didn't stir. Just hung out, eyes shut, with a golden ring surrounding it.

I got the vague impression, though, that if I asked for power, it would give me some.

That felt reassuring. A little like having an unsheathed knife in my pocket. With a smile on my face, I continued my cultivation. It was hard to concentrate, though. I had a big journey ahead of me.

From what Ash told me, the road to the city would take a few weeks. It wasn't like there was mass transit around here, or airplanes, or futuristic teleporters... or even horses. People did have animals to pull things, but they were on the level of ostriches, donkeys, or even a big, sturdy ram to pull a cart. Not something that you could easily ride.

I meant that I planned to hoof it on foot. And travelers on the road were known to be prey for the Deformed.

Honestly, I would feel hesitant about it if I weren't traveling with a badass like Ash.

And that was likely why trouble stirred up two days later.

****

I woke up to screaming.

Not the screaming of Deformed attacks or the screaming like Annika getting her face chewed off. The one that still wound its way into my nightmares. Nope, this was the screaming of an entitled woman throwing her weight around and the return screaming of my mother having none of it.

"What the hell," I muttered in English, throwing the blankets back and getting up out of bed.

Seriously, this was my last morning on the farm. Kind of my last morning of childhood, too. Was it too much to ask for it to be peaceful and nice?

Apparently so. I shrugged into my pants and stepped outside to see if I needed to throw a little goose fire around.

My parents had been steadily checking me for divine marks. It would be nice to show them what I could do. I hadn't yet because Totems were deeply spiritual things, and one did not just show off powers willy-nilly. It was a little bit like taking a gun out in public. Also, it would deplete my gosling when I might need him at full power on the road.

Blinking against the bright morning light, I walked outside.

Sure enough, the entitled screeching came from Annika's mother. I had a moment of fear, thinking that she was trying again to get me married off to her daughter before I took off to the city.

That fear was confirmed when I saw a cart not far behind her, pulled by two strong-looking ostriches. Annika sat up in the back, or… I supposed it was Annika. She wore heavy veils that covered her head and draped down to her feet. She looked a little bit like a Halloween ghost, with only a slit cut out around the mouth so that she could breathe. Nothing even for eyes. Or… eye. I guess.

Poor girl.

"What the hell," I said again, this time more in disgust. Annika should be in her sick bed. Not outside with the bugs and dirt and shit, listening to her mother throw a tantrum.

Annika's older brother, a twerp I didn't like named Russell — not his real name, by the way, but close enough to English for government work — stood by her cart. Even Russell, who was a tattletale and hadn't yet been hit by the puberty bat, looked disturbed as his mother made a scene.

"It's the least he can do," Annika's mother shrilled. “Seth owes this to my daughter.”

Uh-oh.

"My son owes nothing to your daughter and nothing to your family!” my Mom yelled back.

Annika’s mother sneered. “So this is the kindness you extend to the rest of the town? I’ll have it known your farm plants in ground watered in dishonor.”

Double uh-oh. People usually spoke in flowery ways like that when talking about Totems… or marriage.

I saw Ash standing by, arms crossed, watching the whole thing with amusement. I sidled up to him.

"She's not after me to get married, is she?" I asked, wondering if I should just run for it. Ash could just meet me outside the village. I’d send a letter back to my parents once I hit the city.

"Word has gotten around that you plan to leave," Ash muttered. "I hate small towns."

That didn’t answer my question.

More shrill words drifted over to us. “… Any decent many would, after what happened to her while she was in his care…”

Ash must have seen the rising panic on my face because he smirked. “No, not marriage. That woman wants her children to accompany us. She wants us to escort them to the city. For free.” He spit to the side. "They'll be nothing but Deformed bait, but I suppose that's one way to get rid of an unwanted daughter."

I liked Ash. I really did.

Okay, I thought I did. But that was super fucked up... and kind of a reflection of this society.

But I wasn't from this society, was I?

I stepped forward. "Just an escort and not marriage? Fine. They can come as long as your pack ostriches can keep up."

And this time I was determined to protect Annika properly.

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