Once I got over the fact that I was a mythical specie, we had a nice tour. Surprisingly Oblin walked pretty fast for a person of his age, I had to struggle to keep up with his pace. Everytime he took a step, he swung his walking stick behind, which had hit me on my face the first time. I made a point to note, never to walk behind Oblin, as it is life-threatening.
We walked past a basketball field where some old-kids were playing a weird version of basketball, which included using feet. They stopped to look at me, “that’s him”, they nudged each other.
Most of the kids around were elder to me, some of them were lying down on benches along the past and straightened up as they saw Oblin, while others were too busy bashing each other with brooms. I saw the Gargles, and mind it they were nothing close to how I expected them to be.
To start with, they initially looked like huge men with pillows strapped to their waist. Later on I found out that they weren’t pillows but wooden clubs. Their size ranged from six feet to eight feet and I noticed one of them almost ten feet. They wore a leafy-thing around their waist like one of the stone age guys you see in movies and stuff, they walked around idiotically bashing into trees and then rubbing their heads and grunting. One of them walked up to us and sat down in our way and rasped, ‘Bah-bah’. Whenever we tried to cross it, the Gargle started banging it’s hairy chest and yelled, ‘Bah-bah’. Oblin said Gargles could be a little thick, but what he said was an overexaggerated-understatement. To me Gargle seemed like huge men with diapers both around their waists and in their brains. Gargles were more like the helpers in the camp, some of them walked in the garden crushing the plants with their huge hairy feet and then sobbing that the plant had died. I usually wasn’t shy but the way they were staring at me with the baby pout was uncomfortable, like they expected me to do a somersault or something. We passed by some fields where some kids and Gargles were working together. “We have to feed ourselves”, Oblin said, “Nothing anywhere, for almost three-hundred miles”.
We stopped before a small hill, Oblin wanted to walk up the hill. I protested, not because I couldn’t but because I was pretty sure Oblin wouldn’t be able to make it half-way up.
Oblin seemed to notice my concerns, and convinced me he wouldn’t come tumbling down like a bouncy ball. Once we reached the top, I saw a board hung on a single palm tree, ‘View Point’. I turned to look at the camp.
It was brilliant, a slight cool breeze blew in my direction. A few kids were riding a water-scooter in the lake, the foot-basket baller’s cheering could be heard, from behind a cabin. I looked around, and saw the shooting range. Scary girl was shooting arrows at the target, the poor Gargle assisting her had to change the board every two minutes as the bullseye developed cracks on them.
I saw the twins, walking around with some of their friends on stage of the amphitheatre. Luna was kicking some imaginary opponent in the air. The camp was surrounded by a thick forest on all four sides, and for as far as could see, there was no other building or person in sight.
The sun was setting, in the narrow pass between the cliffs and its reddish glow, reflected in the lake.
“Wow”, I exclaimed.
“Wow indeed”, Oblin agreed, he kept his hand on my shoulder, “Welcome home Bracer”.
No one would understand what those words meant to me. For someone kicked around all his childhood, someone who shifted from one place to another before dust settles on the floor. For someone who never had a home, who never had anyone to confide in. A home means a lot, even if it had massive hairy diaper dudes, irritating red haired ladies and their crazy brothers, a scary girl who stared at you and crocodiles waiting to tear you apart like paper in a shredder.
“Oblin”, I said looking at him, “ how have you stayed hidden for so long? How come the world doesn’t know anything about us?”
“Neomancers”, Oblin said with a long sigh, “The only reason we have stayed hidden for so many years is, the lack of interest of Neomancers in everything but themselves. You look around this island, you will find creatures you have never seen before. Thought to be extinct years ago, we catch them, give them a new home, somewhere Neomancers will never find them. However, such places are reducing, everyday Neomancers are finding new islands. Everyday some poor creature is losing their home to them. The Council of Atlantis has begun discussing war strategies-”.
“-That isn’t good”, I said interrupting.
“Bracer”, Oblin said, turning to look at me, “The reason why we haven’t shown our faces is because we do not want to seek alliance with Neomancers, not after what they have done to our planet. And you are right Bracer, war is bad but everyday we sit, Neomancers get closer to discovering us, everyday we sit, we lose an island. The Atlanteans have been silent for thousands of years, holding them back would be very difficult if the war begins. Supposing this war ever happens, I have no doubt Bracer, we will suffer huge losses, yes. But neomancers, they will be the ones wiped out”.
“But”, I said urgently, “ they don’t know- humans don’t know about you, maybe they could change. As a matter of fact, movements have sprung up around the world, to save our planet”.
“I hope so Bracer”, Oblin said, “However a few months ago, something very-very important went missing. All hands point towards the humans. We, of course, are a long way from war. We prefer peace, everyday our ground-units, release minute force-fields which cannot be detected by Neomancer satellites. Which blinds them everytime, they try to focus on an Atlantean island. As we speak massive Illusion towers are being set up in our main cities which will hide the island completely from the outside. We are trying to prevent war Bracer, and we hope it never happens, but we need to get back what we lost”.
“That”, I said slowly, “is a lot to take in”.
“Yes Bracer, it is”, Oblin said agreeing, “Come let’s get you a weapon, you cannot be roaming around with a gun”, Oblin said nodding at the gun.
“Oh, right”, I said, I had forgotten the gun was there. I unstrapped the assault-rifle and reluctantly placed it in Oblin’s hands.
The armoury, to start with, was a massive place. Filled with all sorts of weapons, then that’s exactly what an armoury is meant for. There was a Gargle outside standing guard, who let us pass only after he had a good look at me, which lasted fifteen-minutes.
Oblin put a key into a massive grey door, which whirred open smoothly. The armory was divided into two halves, the first half had weapons like iron rods, clubs, hammers, swords and the 1-metre iron-sticks.
The other side, which was separated with a glass door, had guns neatly placed on shelves. Sniper-guns, Assault-rifles pistols shotguns, cannons and huge machine-guns, I saw them all.
Crates were stocked with magazines and labeled with their types and their grades, ‘Air pellets (Grade-C)’, ‘Rubber Pellets (Grade-C)’, ‘Particle Beam Magazines (Grade-B), ‘Lead-Aluminum Alloy bullets (Grade-A)’.
To choose a weapon was difficult, since my eyes constantly flitted towards the glass door and beyond it. Finally after ages, I picked up the ‘Twin One and half foot spiked rods’.
“Mm-mh”, Oblin mused over my choice as I strapped the sheath to either side of my waist, “Not a bad choice- A good choice indeed. If you ask me, a gun would suit you better, maybe you could take the trials to join the shooting club, sometime later”.
I nodded at him, “I’d like to”, I got myself a light blue color bullet proof jacket and helm. Oblin put it in a bag and handed it to me.
Finally he showed me the cabins. They were spread out almost hundred meters away from each other around the crescent bank of the lake the first cabin was visible exactly opposite to the twelfth which was on the opposite bank of the lake, just a little away from the cliffs.
Most of the cabins looked similar to each other, each cabin had their own small grassy patch around it, which had a round table on it: The cabins were not exactly what one would expect at a summer camp, they seemed more like high security vaults, they had a thick metallic trapeziod structure, the door was one of those I had seen in movies, thick metallic, which were a little inside the structure and had a slight gap in the middle, similar to the ones in lifts. Two big glass windows on the front side with curtains drawn across, and a LED fitted just above the metallic door.
The door of the fourth cabin was open, I saw a few kids huddled together around a board placing some card game, which mysteriously looked like UNO. One of the girls looked up at me with raised eyebrows and nudged her friends.
Cabin, one, two and three were comparatively larger than the rest. The first cabin had a golden vulture made on their door, which opened just as we walked close to it and a boy walked out. I peeped into the cabin.
I saw four kids squatted around a centre table on a red carpet, and yelled as they watched a game of basketball, Lakers vs Warriors. One of the red haired kids turned to look at me, I recognised the mean look, it was Luna. She was wearing a red colored shirt, she zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer.
I kept walking trying to stay clear of Oblin’s walking stick. The door of the second cabin had a silver eagle and third had a bronze bird, which I presumed as an ostrich.
Oblin pointed to an outdoor pavilion which had twelve neatly arranged five seater wooden tables. There was a weird pink colored cloth suspended from four bamboo poles above the tables, which did the lousy job of the roof, though I doubted it was good enough as the huge holes in the cloth did not have, ‘Water not allowed’, boards on them. A little away from the Ugly-pink-cloth with holes-restaurant there was something, what in its hay days might have been a bus. But today that wise old wreak was squatted on the slope, smelling all the food that was being cooked in it.
“You eat here”, I said stupidly.
Oblin looked at me for a while, “Well of-course we cannot swim here, so we must be eating here”.
We walked around for a while, “Let’s put you in a cabin shall we?”, Oblin asked.
I looked at him and nodded, I couldn’t wait to get started.
“Very well, Alpheeto Reek”, he roared. I had to cover my ears to prevent them from bursting.
Alph came running out of nowhere and stood in front of us. "Yes - Oblin", he wheezed, in two separate breaths
"I believe your cabin is one short, isn't it?"
Alph, glanced at me, “Yes sir, but no offence to Bracer here. You cannot be thinking of putting him in our cabin”.
“Ah- that is exactly what I was planning to do”.
“Oblin, -you know Suhani will never accept him”, Alph pressed.
Suhani, the scary girl, I thought.
“Did she tell you?”, Oblin pressed.
“No”, Alph stated, “but I know her. And she won’t take him in”.
Oblin turned around, facing opposite to us, “Alpheeto you will take Bracer to your cabin. If Suhani has any problems with my decision she will come to me herself”.
“But- sir”, Alph began.
“- Enough Alph, my decision is final. Take Bracer to your cabin”, Oblin said sternly.
Alph looked as if he wanted to argue, but thought better of it, “Yes sir. Come on Bracer follow me”, he said walking away.
I looked at Oblin one last time, and then ran up to Alph.
“Hey”, I said catching up with him, “sorry, I could talk to him to put me in some other cabin if you want”.
“No, no”, Alph said looking at me, “I won’t mind having you at all. In Fact, it would be a change for me. No one knows better than me how boring, three girls in a cabin can be. It’s Suhani she won’t accept you”.
“Why?”
“Our cabin is the only one which has four thirteen year old’s. Till last year we had Wrinker, but he finished his course at the camp. Suhani is expecting a senior in our cabin. I don’t blame her, every cabin has at least two, if she finds out you have been assigned to our cabin she’s gonna be really angry”.
We walked past the footbasket ballers till cabin eight. I noticed the curtains were drawn across the large glass windows. The forest was just a few meters behind the cabin. Alph stood in front of the metallic door and pulled out the card from his pocket. The key detector beeped and the light turned green from red. The door opened.
I felt the cold air of the air conditioner coming out of the cabin. The girls were sitting on a blue color carpet around a wooden table with their legs spread and doing nothing in particular.They looked up at me, I recognised two of them, Suhani and Dream. There was a third one, she had long black hair and soft grey eyes. Her skin was a ghostly white.
“You”, Suhani said softly, glancing at me.
“Yeah, me”, I rasped. Not understanding what was her problem with me.
“What is he doing here?”, she said looking at Alph.
I saw Alph flinch, “He is our new cabin-mate”.
I saw Dream, bang her forehead on the table. The other girl shook her head slightly. And Suhani, she was staring at me, probably deciding how to kill me. Her eyes zapped as I looked into them.
“Alph”, she hissed, “Why did you agree to it?”.
“Oblin did not give me much option. He said you could go talk to him, if you have a problem”.
Suhani glared at Alph, and then went back to stare at me. Maybe she was planning to stare me to death.
“What’s your Occult?”he asked, raising her chin.
“My- what?”, I quacked.
“Your Occult”, she asked, raising her voice slightly.
How was I supposed to know my Occult? I didn’t even know what an Occult was.
“What is your, Occult?”, Alph whispered from the corner of his mouth.
“What is an Occult?”, I whispered back.
Alph turned to face me, and gave me a sympathetic, ‘you’re gonna die’ look.
“Undetermined”, he said finally, looking at Suhani.
I heard Dream gasp, Suhani got up instantly from the ground, “This is ridiculous”, she said furiously, “No way, I am having you here”.
Before, I could protest. She held me by my wrist and dragged me out of the cabin.
“This is completely unacceptable”, she muttered to herself, “No- way this is happening . . .”,
She turned her neck to glare at me as if it was all my fault.
I shrugged, I shouldn’t have done it. She humphed as she tightened her grip around my wrist and moved forward with newfound enthusiasm.
Kids were coming out of their cabins to look at us. The basket-ballers laughed as we crossed them. A few kids followed us, making sure they maintained their distance from Suhani.
I saw the boy-twin smirking at me as we passed cabin one.
We stopped in front of Oblin’s cabin, by now a huge crowd had gathered around us in a semicircle. They nudged each other pointing at me. I caught a few kids whispering something to each other, I was pretty sure I heard the word, ‘die’.
“Make way, make way”.
The students parted, Alph, Dream and the other girl pushed their way to the front. Alph looked at me and shook his head, Dream’s mouth hung open and she covered it with her hands. The third girl was staring at me expressionless.
The crowd parted from the other side, A mean looking guy, probably sixteen or seventeen appeared, he zeroed in on me. Luna and her stupid brother were standing behind him.
I caught Luna folding her arms and grinning at me evilly.
I did not feel nervous usually, but then I did not have fifty kids staring at me usually, and neither did I meet a girl who was so hell bent on getting me killed. So much for a new home.
“You boy”.
It took me a while to understand, Suhani was talking to me. She gave me her, ‘Stare-O-Death’, which I had gotten pretty much used to by now.
“Do not move from here”, she hissed.
“Alright”, I said, shaking my head in self pity. I caught Alph looking at me wide-eyed.
Suhani stomped up to the cabin’s door. The kids around me hooted loudly as she banged the metal door. She seemed unaffected by the scene she was making, as she continued banging the door.
The crowd hushed down, as we heard the bolt creak open on the other side, and the door opened.
Hatchet peeped out of the door, he had a toothbrush in his mouth which he was chewing. He stared at me and then at the crowd around me and finally at Suhani.
“Oblin, we have a situation”, he called with the brush in his mouth, without looking behind.
There was a ‘clang’ inside the cabin, probably a steel utensil fallen on the ground. “Wait, a minute”.
I heard a soft, groan from inside. Hatchet went back inside the cabin and Oblin walked out with his walking stick.
“Well, well, what could have caused this gathering”, he said looking at the crowd.
“Oblin”, Suhani said sharply, “I do not mean any disrespect to you or Bracer over here”, she said without glancing at me, “but I cannot accept Bracer into our cabin”.
Oblin gestured towards me, “Why what’s wrong with him?”, Luna led out a muffled laugh, which attracted Oblin’s attention. She made a sorry face, but I was pretty sure she did it intentionally. Oblin seemed to notice it too, he turned to look at Suhani, “He defeated a crocodile single handedly, as far as I remember Luna and her brother here”, he said with a motion of his hands, “Abandoned their night post, when they saw a deer, and refused to go back for almost a month”.
There was broken laughter across the group as Oblin said the words. The size of the gathering had almost doubled, I presumed most of a camp if not all of them were watching the scene unfold. I even saw a couple of Gargles standing at the back, and saying, ‘Bah-bah’.
The basketball players in bright yellow sleeveless jersey’s pushed their way to the front and were grinning at me. Luna seemed to be angered by Oblin’s words, as she was glaring at him with her eyes half closed. For the second time I wished I wasn’t here.
The crowd silenced down again, as Suhani opened her mouth to speak. “Last year, when Spencer left, you gave us Dream as a replacement”, she said softly looking at Oblin, “We didn’t say anything because we still had one senior. Four months ago Wrinker also left, leaving cabin eight without any senior. We waited four months for a new cabin-mate. You said you would give us a great member”. She turned to look at me, "This is what you give us. An Atlantean who has lived with Neomancers all his life, who knows nothing about the Atlantean culture and above all he is still undetermined". How do you expect us to win the cabin games, we won’t even make it past round one, if he is in our team”, she quacked pointing at me.
The crowd hooted, as Suhani finished speaking. The boy-twin clapped his hands and yelled, “The ring, -the ring, -the ring”.
What in the world was, the ring?
The crowd shuffled for a few seconds, staring at each other, then at me and then the boy twin. The kids around, the twins chorused with them, "The ring".
And within a few seconds, the whole group other than the kids of cabin eight, were yelling the same.
"Silence!", Oblin yelled. Once the noise died down, he turned to look at Suhani, "So, what do you want?"
"I-I", for once Suhani looked unsure of herself. It looked as if she was rehearsing, what she wanted to say. Then she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "I Suhani Vashist, captain of cabin eight. Demand Bracer Phoenix to be put in the ring".
The ring, again those words. Judging by the noise the crowd made, I guessed it was either very-good, or something really-bad. Something about their looks told me that it was most likely the second option.
"Suhani", Oblin said softly, "Are you sure, you want that".
Oblin's face seemed to have a million expressions, most of them had something to do with disappointment. I saw it in Suhani's face, she seemed to notice Oblin's disappointment as well. Her mouth hung open, she turned to look at me. I noticed her eyes had softened down a bit, she continued to gaze at me for a while. The look vanished in a few ticks, "Yes, I am sure", she said, looking at Oblin.
"Very well captain", Oblin said dejectedly, "Tonight, Bracer will be put in the ring".
The crowd parted as Suhani strode away. Soon enough, I was the only one left, I saw down on a bench outside Oblin's cabin. Watching the others from a distance, and wondering what exactly a ring could be?