Mom had told me stories of the middle city, The Bind. She described how big it was compared to our small village. “Imagine multiple of the four villages combined into one huge village, and then double that,” she had said. She grew up in The Bind, eventually migrating to Zuhgora village to fulfill a life of shamanism with my Dad. She always talked about the huge marketplaces and the professions that the town excelled at.

  “Hey, Mom,” I asked, walking beside her over the hill. “So, if The Bind doesn’t have a totem to worship, do you think I’ll find fewer shamans there? Do you think it’s less shamanistic?

  “In a way, I suppose.” She replied. “But not in the way that you think. The Bind as a city is not there to practice the art of Shamanism; it’s there to support it.”

  “Is that why The Bind is so well known for its excellence in professions like blacksmithing, leatherworking, and culinary arts?” Leif asked.

  “Yes, that is how they support us. We as Shamans and as people have jobs to do. Some people want to support the Gods, some people want to support the people.”

  “You weren’t a shaman at first, right Mom?” I asked. “What were you going to professionalize in first, and what made you choose Shamanism over it?”

  “That’s right. I was going to be a leatherworker at first. I had practiced Shamanism throughout my life, but never had much interest in going outside the Bind to pursue it. It was not until I was around seventeen, your age, that my ambition got the better of me, and I decided to leave The Bind to pursue Shamanism at one of the four villages. It just so happened that the village I chose was the one your father resided at.”

  “Lucky me,” Dad said with a chuckle. “I think you’re gonna like The Bind, Ezra. You’re used to our village of about one hundred people; The Bind is much larger. There are many people there your age, so maybe you’ll get to meet some people. We’ll get there in the early afternoon, so the rest of the afternoon would be yours to explore. Who knows,” Dad said with a nudge to the shoulder, “maybe you’ll find a lady friend there.”

  “Yeah, okay Dad,” I said, drowning the blood from my cheeks. In reality, I was excited for the chance to finally find some people my age. “How much time until you think we will get there?”

  “About two more hours. Once there we’ll rent a cabin for the night. In the morning, we’ll be on our way.” Dad said. “See that small patch of forest in the distance? Once we clear it, we’ll see The Bind.”

  -

  Mom wasn’t lying, the town was huge compared to anything I’d seen. People walked shoulder to shoulder down the marketplace. Houses and cabins were everywhere in, and out of town. Smoke from different food stands filled the air and nostrils. The walk just from one entrance to another was at least twenty minutes.

  “Alright, everyone,” Dad said, stopping us at an old shack five minutes from the market. “This will be our stay for the night. Leif, you’ll have to room with us so Ezra can have his own room.”

  “Okay,” Leif nodded, running up the steps to be the first one in the home. Meeting up with Leif, the shack was what we expected based on our impression of the outside: a small kitchen on the right, a small dining room table to the left, and a hallway leading down to two bedrooms and a bathroom. It did the job, especially for only a night.

  “Alright, we’re gonna get our rooms situated, then we’ll head out into the marketplace,” Dad said. “Ezra, feel free to go exploring on your own. We’ll be back here by nightfall. You may be out as late as you want, but remember we have a long day's journey tomorrow; also, try to come back in one piece.” Dad smiled at his last comment. Mom didn’t.

  “I heard there’s a hangout downtown near some food stands. That might be a nice place to go talk to people; also, get yourself some food.” Mom said, handing me a few silver pieces.

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll go check it out. I’ll see you guys later,” I said, closing the door behind me and heading toward the marketplace.

  The sun was still beaming with no cloud in sight. The stone road separated a long line of houses on each side; dividing intersections showed a new interesting way to go. People around me multiplied each minute that I got closer to the market. Men, women, and children; families, cliques, and coworkers; they surrounded me as I walked.

  This must be the spot Mom was talking about, I thought. The market lane came to a large intersection with multiple shaded sections. People would grab food from the market and eat at the tables, so I decided to follow suit.

  Not having any clue where I was going, I chose a direction and started walking. Food stands lay on both sides far beyond view. It smelled of smoked beef, beer, and strong herbs. One stand, in particular, caught my eye: it was entirely dedicated to shish kabobs. It had beef, bear, fish, crab, and lamb; all combined with roasted peppers and vegetables. I decided to go with the bear.

  Walking back with my plate, I noticed no tables were empty; it was a full crowd. Despite that, I walked through the crowd, hoping someone would leave a spot in the meantime. I did, however, notice a table of four had an extra spot. I glanced around making sure this really was my last option, and decided to muster up the strength:

  “Hello, do you guys mind if I sit down?” I asked. “It’s pretty busy tonight.”

  One girl responded in a heartbeat: “Not at all, please do.” Relief washed over me. Sometimes all it takes is the guts to ask, I supposed.

  “Thank you very much. My name’s Ezra.” I said, putting down my plate and reaching out my hand to shake their hands.

  “Charlotte,” the girl said, accepting my handshake. She had long, blonde hair and a bubbly smile.

  “Trevor. Nice to meet you,” the second said. He had short brown hair. He seemed physically fit and had soot on his hands and clothes; possibly from working as a Blacksmith.

  “I’m Alice,” said the last one. She had curly brown hair that went to her shoulders. She seemed more reserved and gentle.

  “Are you guys from here?” I asked, taking a bite of one of my shish kabobs.

  “Me and my sister here grew up in Eiteega village,” Trevor said, tilting his head towards Alice. “I had always wanted to be a Blacksmith, so about three years ago on my sixteenth birthday I traveled here and started training. As for Alice, she didn’t have many friends back home, so a year after I left, when she turned 15, she was allowed to come to live with me in the ‘big city.’ Or at least that’s what she tells me, I think she just missed her older brother.” Trevor gave her a playful nudge and a chuckle, Alice rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, keep telling yourself that Trevor,” Charlotte said sarcastically. Looking towards me, she said: “I grew up here. I met Trevor through him being my Dad’s apprentice; which is helpful, because if Trevor makes a mistake I get to hear about it, and if he doesn’t treat me, my Dad gets to hear about it.” The three of us laughed, Trevor didn’t.

  “What about you, Ezra?” Trevor asked. “Where are you from?”

  “I’m visiting from Zuhgora village,” I responded. “My family and I have made a goal to travel to each of the four totems. Y’serak’s totem is the final one we need to travel to, so we’re staying here for the night.

  “That’s awesome,” Charlotte said. “I’ve always wanted to go to Y’serak’s totem, I’ve heard there’s a lot of beautiful forests and wildlife over there.”

  “It’s a shame you’re only staying for the night,” Alice said. Trevor gave her a side glance after saying that, I assumed Charlotte did too. Then Alice gasped, and said: “Trevor, do you think we could bring him to the hill? The weather looks great for another visit tonight!” She looked at him with excitement, like a kid asking for dessert.

  “What’s ‘The Hill?’” I asked.

  “It’s a hill outside of town we like to visit,” Trevor said. “It has a beautiful view at night, especially during sunset. And yes, Alice, we can go.”

  “Ezra, you should go!” Alice exclaimed. “It’s beautiful, and since you said it was your first time here, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to see the whole city.”

  “Sure, I’d love to,” I said.

  “Charlotte, do you wish to join?” Trevor asked.

  “Not tonight,” Charlotte said, “In fact, I should be going now. I’ll meet you at home, Trevor. Ezra, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I wish you luck on your journey to Y’serak’s totem.”

  “Thank you, Charlotte,” I said. She stood up and stole a chunk from the baked potato Trevor was eating and left.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Well, looks like we should get going soon then,” Trevor said. “We don’t have much sun left. Let’s finish our food then be on our way.”

  Once we had finished our food, we started walking through town towards an exit. The market was starting to relax as we walked through. I still had no layout of the town, so I had to trust that they knew where they were going. Each new street felt like a copy of the last, only the remaining stands made for any variety. Eventually, the marketplace ended and a row of houses continued the line forward. Lamps hung from the houses lit the way as the day became dimmer.

  “So, Ezra,” Trevor said. “You said you’re traveling from Zuhgora village right? Does that make you a shaman?”

  “I am,” I responded. “I actually got this knife just yesterday from one of my rituals.” I unsheathed my knife with Zuhgora’s engraving, turned its blade facing me, and handed it to Trevor.

  “Yep, that’s Zuhgora’s engraving alright,” Trevor said, analyzing the hilt. “My whole family comes from a long line of Shamans; I guess I’m the one to break that chain.”

  “What made you determined to become a Blacksmith?” I asked. “You said you had always wanted to be a Blacksmith since you were young, right?” Trevor handed me back my knife.

  “Well,” Trevor responded, “I say that as if I had everything figured out from day one. I didn’t. I have always been a people person, and I like to work for the people of The Horizon. I commend those who work for the Gods, but that just never worked for me. So, I became determined to become a Blacksmith, as I had heard many stories of this city's Blacksmithing prowess. And now, here I am.”

  “That’s amazing,” I responded, “It’d be nice to have such a determined path.”

  “It can be nice to have a determined path for sure, but don’t think of that as a clear advantage. Alice, for example, has many options ahead of her and can choose whichever one works best for her when she feels ready. She’s a practicing shaman, an amazing tailor - I have no clue how she sews so fast and an intelligent-”

  “Okay, okay, okay.” Alice interrupted, playfully pushing Trevor.

  “You’re a practicing Shaman, Alice?” I asked. The exit gate came into view after taking a right turn.

  “I am. Before I left to come to The Bind, I learned how to perform rituals on my own. I still practice on occasion, but I’m unsure if I’ll specialize in it.”

  “Wow, that’s incredible. It took me much longer to learn how to perform rituals.” I said, purposely failing to mention I had learned how to perform rituals alone only yesterday.

  “Ehh, what can I say? I’m a natural.” She teased.

  “Alright Ms. Prodigy,” Trevor said, “Looks like it’s a little later than I thought, so we gotta run.”

  Once we reached the city gates, we got approval from a guard to pass. On the other side, we began our run towards the hill. The light shade of red from the sky covered the ground. We ran through a long field of green pasture. Small hills could be seen in all directions, but the one I assumed we were after was straight ahead: it stood taller than the rest with a flat top. Its grass looked like fluffy, well-kept fur.

  Once we reached the base of the hill Trevor quickly looked at me and Alice and said: “Race you to the top!” Taking off in a flash. Me and Alice accepted the challenge and took off after him. Trevor was much faster than us, he consistently gained distance even with the bag he was carrying. Alice and I ran at identical speeds.

  “I don’t do enough cardio!” I said, my words coming out in short, choppy bursts.

  “No kidding!” she responded, seemingly hurting as much as I was.

  Trevor stood at the top with his arms over his head, looking down at us. As we neared the top, my pace began to lessen; Alice took the lead and reached the top first.

  “No!” I exclaimed with a chuckle, reaching the top in last place. I fell on the ground in a starfish position, panting like a dog after playing fetch.

  “Ha! I got you!” Alice said, falling backward in the same starfish position, scrambling for breath just as I was.

  Trevor stood in front of us and said: “Hey guys, check this out,” pointing towards the horizon.

  Standing up, we both stood in awe as the sun made its final performance for the day. A small sliver of its top remained over the horizon; extracting the faint red covering the land in preparation for the night. Below laid The Bind in its entirety. Its smooth stone walls surrounded it and stretched a mile in the distance. The streets are interconnected to make a complex puzzle. In the middle lay the market with its multiple tents and towering buildings.

  As the sunlight gave away, the dark blue fade of the moon took to its post. The light blue mist protecting The Horizon was highlighted by the night's glow. Such a light, delicate color for something warding whatever is on the outside, I thought. I am completely within my means here. I have everything I need. So why can’t I be content with that? Besides, what do I plan to do with this festering curiosity? Go beyond the barrier and never be able to return? Maybe a simple life of peace and prosperity is better than pursuing questions I may not want the answer to, I concluded. That resonated with me, and the warmth I felt from the view of the horizon was matched with clarity.

  “Hey, Ezra,” Alice said. “You said you were able to do rituals, right?”

  “Yeah, why?” I responded, curious about what she was intending.

  “I want to show you something. Trevor, can I see the bag?”

  “Sure,” Trevor responded, handing her the bag he’d been carrying.

  Alice took the bag and opened it. She took out a totem with Eiteega’s engravings on it. Its tusks protruded out slightly further than other totems, and its eyes’ engravings were humble and strong; as Eiteega’s spirit animal was an Elephant. Along with the totem, she took out some ingredients and began gathering some rocks.

  “I want to do a ritual with you,” Alice said.

  “A ritual? What for?” I responded.

  “You’ll see. It’s a tradition I do whenever I come up here,” she said, smiling as she piled on a few remaining rocks. Trevor stood back with a smile on his face as if he knew I had no arguing power. He walked up to me and whispered: “Sorry, my sister hasn’t been around many people her age, nonetheless Shaman’s. She’s just excited to finally meet someone like her.” Trevor smiled, patted my shoulder, and walked back to his place behind us.

  Once she finished making a ritual circle, she placed the totem in the middle, stood up, and faced me. Within the ritual circle, she had laid out sage, wheat, leaves, and three dandelions.

  “Alright, are you ready?” she said, standing on the other side of The Horizon.

  “I can’t,” I responded. “I don’t have my totem on me. Also, I can’t perform a ritual to a god I’m not specialized in.” That stumped us. Not only is a Shaman’s dance specialized to the person, but a Shaman must also specialize in the god that they dedicate their ritual to. Much like learning a new tongue, some learn multiple gods’ rituals at a young age, some learn more as they get older, and some live dedicated to one. “Besides,” I added, “I’ve never heard of two gods combining in one ritual circle. The totem in the center is what god the ritual is dedicated to; it doesn’t work with two totems.”

  Right before Alice started picking up the ingredients in the circle, saddened that we couldn’t both do the ritual, Trevor chimed in and said: “Ezra, you said you got your knife from Zuhgora, right? What if you placed your knife in front of Alice’s totem?”

  Alice gasped and looked at her brother, “Trevor, you’re a genius! It makes sense too: the totem in the middle is the god the ritual is dedicated to, and the knife could represent a god giving its assistance to strengthen the ritual! Ezra,” she said, turning her head towards me, “we have to try.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” I said, unsheathing my knife. The whale glowed under the moonlight, emphasizing the engravings. I kneeled beside Alice and stuck half of the blade in the ground. Now the totem stood in the middle and the knife stood in front; both of them faced us.

  “Alright, are you ready? And are you gonna tell me what this is for?” I said, turning it back on her.

  “Nope, like I said: it’s a surprise. And yes, let’s do it,” she said, enjoying seeing me clueless.

  I took my stance and began the ritual. In unison earth and water combined into one. It created an atmosphere both bold and flexible; something faithful and cold. I decided to try something different and move with my legs. My arms and legs flowed in a complementary fashion, circling me around the stones. Standing across from Alice, I noticed she took on a different stance: rather than beginning her dance with a strong stance, she started with a delicate one; however, this was misleading, as she would end each phrase with a graceful transition into a powerful stance. It embodied patience and benevolence, yet moments of fierce confidence and lethality.

  I had always been too modest to consciously think about attractive girls, nonetheless openly expressing it, I thought. Growing up, there were no girls my age, only some a few years older. While I learned to not fear talking to them - well, the nice ones anyway - it didn’t teach me to not be afraid of love. I always saw it as something to hide like it was some hidden secret that a teenager could love. However, seeing her dance with her curly, brown hair flowing across her eyes in the night; there was no denying how beautiful I thought she was.

  As we danced, the totem glowed an expected light gray. But, the knife glowed as well: the whale engraving lit up a light blue. The rocks binding the circle cracked and popped harder than I had ever seen. The ingredients stretched and twitched in place. Trevor took a step back.

  “Ezra, on the count of three, we finish it,” Alice said.

  “Got it,” I said.

  On three, Alice stomped the ground with one foot and shot her left palm out like a jab. I skid to a stop, landing back in my original stance. In an instant, the circle sent a ray of blue and green light into the sky. The totem and knife glowed their respective color, bright enough to hurt the eyes. As soon as I looked away, the light vanished, along with all the ingredients in the ritual.

  I stood there for moments, looking around, waiting for something to happen. I eventually looked at Alice and said: “I- I don’t see anything-”

  Something cold touched my shoulder. It sat for a moment and then melted, and then another did the same. I looked up into the night sky, and thousands of white snowflakes were falling. It had been cloudy before, but they all lay dormant.

  I had never seen snow before, as snow was a rarity in The Horizon. The middle city was known for getting more snow in recent years: I’m starting to see why, I thought. Alice and Trevor stared up at the sky, and Trevor stuck out his tongue to catch snowflakes.

  Within minutes the city became lightly powdered in snow, and the fields leading to it followed suit. While I did have a long sleeve shirt, pants, and boots on; I wasn’t dressed for the occasion. Nevertheless, I was too mesmerized to notice the cold. I could see the line where the snow began and ended in the distance. It surrounded us in a perfect circle.

  Alice looked down from the night and said: “well, what do you think?” Trevor was still trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue in vain.

  I had always wanted to see snow. My parents told stories of snow when I was young; a time far beyond remembering. I had memories of waking up and hoping for snow, but it never happened. But here it was now, and it was everything I wanted it to be.

  “It’s beautiful, Alice. Thank you for showing me this,” I said, my voice subtly breaking from holding back tears.

  Alice wiped her sleeve against her eyes and walked closer. She spoke quietly to not have her voice break, saying: “Of course. On your way back, you’ll come to visit me here, right?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be there,” I said.

  Trevor suddenly yelled: “Yes! I finally caught one!” Pointing at his tongue while it was stuck out. Alice and I laughed uncontrollably as Trevor began running after his second snowflake.