Hasan

Chapter Two: A Fresh, Sweet Breeze

As we went up on the lift, I was flooded with emotion as expected. Being prepared, I was not swept away with them. I just accepted what I was feeling and let go. The pain also made a second entrance, but like with the emotions, I accepted it and eased it through me. I felt it still, but it did not physically harm me this time.

The platform stopped and we immediately noticed that the post guards were not there. Instead, we encountered messengers. They were just getting on when we got off. Shock and relief drifted from them when they saw what was in our cart, but disappointment and disgust set in when they found out we were not of the cavalry but from Low District. Even with salvation in a cart, the upper districts look down on Low District residents.

*Assistance is assistance so don’t brush us off as deadbeats.*

I shook off the lingering resentment from my encounter with the messengers and got down to business. Half of Middle District was a mess. The main tunnel collapsed burying people and homes. Safeguards were built into the hill, magicked to protect and support each district. Meaning, when half of Middle District sunk, High and Low Districts were not affected or felt a tremor when the incident happened. No one knew what had happen, not even Royal District until the messengers reach them.

Examining my crew, I found them shocked and horrified to the situation we stepped in, but they didn’t show it. Figuring they would do what needed to be done, I turned my attention to the locals. They were in a panic, almost making me go into a panic. People were lost to their emotions, crying and screaming. Some were on their knees digging with their hands to find their love ones. Overwhelmed, I automatically did what I always do when I start to panic. I performed my little ritual taking calming breaths and find my center within me. And, the residents copied me. They shared their fear, horror and confusion, and in turn, I shared my calm. I was their eye of their storm. Their feathers settled, and the true leaders of the flock took control and directed groups to dig, move rubble, and find the living or the dead and move them to a safe location. I joined up with my companions to care for the wounded and lost time itself.

Days passed by and everything became a jumble of broken and mangled bodies. At the same time, the pain slowly ebbed away and the level of emotions around me grew as more people came to help with the collapse. The royals sent workers on the first day and requested the city to volunteer help or supplies for Middle District during their crisis. We worked from the outside to the inside finding more causalities as we put support beams in place to hold the tunnels up. Other groups attacked the sunken area from connecting tunnels inside the hill. Honestly, the hill was a maze of catacombs. A person could get lost in the hill for years if there weren’t people already living there to point the way out.

After weeks went by, we finally reached the center and learned what caused the nightmare. Anger crawled on my skin as everyone stared at the site. By then, it was just another feeling. I was almost dead inside and out. Exhausted and starving, I could barely see my own hand, more or less people, and the only thing that kept me going was sheer will. Or, stubbornness. I was using the last of my reserves patching a few workers, who were injured while helping the rebuilding, outside in the sun. The internal city was too dark and I kept falling asleep.

*Thankfully, I am no longer needed, and once I finish with a few more crush limbs, I can go home. Get some rest. Sleep in a comfortable bed with soft luxurious sheets. No one to disturb me. Hhmmmmm…What’s that sweet smell?*

The wind, carrying a pleasant scent, tickled my nose causing me to sneeze. The scent disappeared but my memory recalled it. Vividly. It was ingrained into my mind which was strange considering the state I was in. For one, I still couldn’t remember the name of the woman I was treating and I asked her eleven times and soon to be twelve. I had to find where the smell was coming from. With watery eyes and wavering from side to side, I looked to where the wind and smell came from and saw a man.

He did not fit in at all. Taller than me and so taller than most, he stood out of the dirt covered crowd around him. There was a smudge here and there on his expensive ebony clothes and light tan skin, but otherwise, he was relatively clean. I was the opposite. My clothes were beyond dirty and my pale skin the same. I looked like an urchin, a tall one, but an urchin. If you patted my back, dust clouds would surround you. His crimson hair was mussed up because he just did not care to take the time to comb it. It looked gorgeously wild and unkempt. My hair. My dull, black hair was a mess because I had not bathed, brushed or even had the capacity to redo the unraveling braid it was in.

*Bastard.*

I glared at him, praying the he would trip and fall in a pile of refuse, which none of the many gods that exist did not grant. If that was bad, it got worse. I caught his eye, and suddenly, I was a startled deer that caught a wolf’s attention. Before he even took a step towards me, I ran quickly to the next patient that I had to treat.

*Maybe, just maybe, if I can finish and set these bones before me quickly enough, I can leave with my flesh intact and have the wolf to hunt someone else.*

Not giving me a chance to attempt escape, he positioned himself behind me as I was splinting the patient. The many gods, again, did not grant my wish.

*Why do they never grant one of my wishes? Did I finish treating that woman?*

I gave the man instructions on how to take care of his injured arm and stumbled back towards the woman. Noticing my unfinished female patient, the wolf situated himself between her and me, forcing me to deal with him.

Closer, the wolf was even more striking and handsome. No scars, no blemishes, not even a freckle on his skin. He was young, probably reached adulthood a few years ago, but he would never be called a boy. The sharp angles of his face, his slanted eyes, and his wolfish grin all shouted, “Hunter!” The clothes he wore could not hide his sleek muscular body. He was the epitome of health and masculine beauty, and I…Seeing him in front of me, in the condition I was in, I just felt miserable and wanted to crawl out of sight. I instantly hated him and everything about him. Even his scent, pleasant and sweet in the beginning, had become a nauseating and coiling smell. Adding all these factors, I was not in the mood to converse with the man. Instead, I compromised and gestured for him to speak acting like I was his superior. I refused to show weakness to him, or I would be caught for sure.

He smiled, a completely fake smile, and said easily with a practiced undertone, “Sorry to disturb you.”

*No, you are not.*

“You must be tired.”

*What gave you that impression?*

“But, I’ll make this quick.” His smile grew even bigger as he recounted the reason for bothering me, “The powers from above are investigating on why this disaster happened. I would…”

My vision slowly glazed over as he went on about duty and justice and my mind started to wonder.

*He has either brown or green eyes. I guess you would call it hazel. Do they change with his mood like mine, like a chiweninanna? Or do they change depending on his surroundings? Mine are probably dull gray. Why am I wondering about a guy’s eyes? What did he say?*

The quiet broke through my thoughts and I realized he stopped talking. In replace of speaking, he was glaring. Apparently, it annoyed him when he didn’t receive my undivided attention. His annoyance caused me to smirk. I could not help it nor could have prevented my reaction. I gleefully and cheerfully smirked at the man, and I suddenly was thankful to him. I still disliked him, but thankful because I finally felt something that wasn’t annoyance, despair, and it was all mine and not someone else’s emotion. My tears of relief shocked the wolf. He took a step back and looked at me with a curious expression.

At that moment, I wished I knew what he was feeling. For a month, my mind had been overloaded with people’s emotions. It lost the ability to filter out details and pinpoint where and who the emotions were coming from. I could not concentrate enough to find out what the wolf was feeling unless I was touching him.
Deciding that I needed a less artificial interview, he finally gave me a sincere smile and said, “My name is Cavan.”

“Cavan,” I repeated with a hoarse voice.

“Yes, I just need to know if you know anything. If no, I’ll leave you alone and go talk to someone else. If yes, I’ll let you rest. Let me rephrase that. I’ll make you rest, find some water and food for you, then we’ll talk about whatever you know.”

“Make?” I laughed, almost hysterically. I wouldn’t have stopped if I wasn’t afraid of my face hitting the ground. With the laughing fit over, my gaze was returning back to Cavan when someone caught my eye. Pass Cavan’s shoulder and in front of an entrance to the inner city, stood a middle age man about the same height as me. He wore a wrinkle stained robe to hide his pudgy body, and his unkempt hair, a very fair blond, was slowly receding. Without getting closer, I knew the man would have eyes brighter than the blue sky above me, a nose that would match its broadness, and eyebrows, the lightest blond that I have ever seen and softer than down, were the clouds.

“Livy?” I croaked.

Cavan turned to see who I saw and smiled. Surprised, he said, “You know Livy? He’s my partner for this assignment. We’re working this section of Middle District and asking people if they have seen or heard what happened here.”

I grunted and made the comment, “And we turn back to finding justice for the victims of Middle District.”

The wolf shrugs and grins mischievously, “I couldn’t help but try.”

“What happen to making me rest and finding food?”

“You haven’t said if you know anything. Do you?”

I nodded and the man was going to pounce. He forgot about allowing me to rest or eat. He wanted answers. Just like me, he wanted to finish his task and go home. He did not care about justice.

*What does he care about then?*

I knew right then that I needed to talk with Livy. He would understand. He would be able to decipher my garbled words. Most of all, he would let me rest and find food for me. I was starving. For a whole month, I hadn’t eaten a decent meal, and when I did eat, it was only a handful of crumbs. I laid my hand on his shoulder. Cavan stilled and waited. “Go…”

“Go?”

“Go get Livy.”

“Look, I know we…”

“Now! Livy. I won’t talk until he is here,” I said firmly and smoothly, trying hard not to mumble my words. Once my demands were stated, I turned away and walked not allowing Cavan to protest. My exit was not perfect, unfortunately. I stumbled after a few steps. To see if he saw, I peered behind me and watched him strolling towards Livy. He must have felt my eyes on him because he stopped to look back at me. The next thing I knew, our eyes locked and neither of us wanted to look away first.

There were families scattered about trying to set their lives straight, scavenging for lost valuables, and finding a place to call home again. There were engineers and builders constructing and repairing damaged airways, rebuilding tunnels and streets for people to travel, and whatever else that needed to be done. And yet, two grown men find the time to have a starring contest in the middle of all this chaos with one man gathering facts and the other pushed to delirium.

Without thought, I giggled. Cavan’s eyes rounded, supposedly with shock. I wasn’t sure nor did I care. I was beyond caring. Braking eye contact and therefore losing the contest, I went to find a spot to sit down. Finding a building that appeared solid, I leaned against the wall facing the street and slid down to the ground. I closed my eyes and almost fell asleep. What kept me awake was the thought of Cavan finding me and be unable to wake me up. The tenacious man may carry me off to somewhere and wait by my side until I come back to the living.

*Exaggerating, aren’t we?*

I mentally shook myself and opened my eyes. I searched for Cavan and found him talking with Livy. Too far away to see their expressions, I had to rely on Cavan’s gestures to tell what they were talking about. I deducted that the subject was me when he repeatedly pointed in my direction. Grunting, I looked for something else to amuse and distract me from falling into oblivion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ahh!”

“Oh, sorry, Su. You must be tired if I could surprise you.”

Standing a few steps from where I was sitting, I gasp for air trying to slow my racing heart while a worried Livy and a grinning Cavan stood by watching me. My failures were mounting even higher making my decision to rest and rest for a very long time a very easy one.

*What about the woman? Ah, forget her.*

“Are you alright?” Livy asked as he tried to get closer to me, but I didn’t want to be near or be touched by anyone. I just wanted to lay down on my soft bed with silk sheets and be left alone. I avoided his touch.
“No. Yes. Let’s get this over with so I can go home.”

Livy smiled but I could still see the worry in his eyes. In the background, Cavan lifted one of his eyebrows. Obviously, he wanted to do that before I demanded to speak with Livy. I ignored him. I no longer needed to speak with him. To my utter despair, Livy had other ideas.

“Wait here. Cavan keep him company. I’m going to get some food,” said Livy and sprinted off to look for something nourishing for this frail body of mine. Distress, I watched my friend leave me with Cavan.

*Drat.*

In the corner of my vision, I saw Cavan’s wolfish grin make an appearance. “I hope all this nonsense is worth what you know.”

Something clicked in my head and studied him. His attitude changed again. Concentrating because it was necessary and would help me deal with him, I forced myself to feel what he was feeling. To distract him, I talked. “I know you promised me food and water. Where are they? I sent you to fetch Livy. Why didn’t you bring some then?”

His smile disappeared and was replaced with a sneer. Before he spoke, I knew it was going to be bad. Straining, I could pick up one strong emotion from him, disgust. Startled, I stopped trying to read him but it was already too late. It was now the one emotion I could pick out of all the tangled emotions around me.

“Sorry, I got distracted with what Livy told me about you,” Cavan stated.

“And what would that be?” I asked in a quiet voice.
Disgust rolled off of him and tumbled into me. My anxiety spiraled upwards as his face changed to compliment the emotion. He had an aura that could make people want to follow and believe him in anything including something negative about them. In my position, it was insult on top of an injury. As he felt disgust, I felt disgust and I almost believed that I should be disgusted with myself. I was trapped and no Livy to save me from the wolf.

His eyes grew soft as he said, “He informed me that you were a chiweninanna.”

*Oh.*

My heart calmed down, my fear decreased, but I still felt disgusted because of him.

*The War always comes to bite me.*

Ever since the War, my race slowly became degraded. I am one of the last few who were taught of our inherited abilities and the new blood never had the chance to learn. With no training, chiweninannas automatically promote the emotions around them. If there is an angry crowd nearby, the chiweninanna becomes angry and instills that feeling in the people around them, and it doesn’t have to be anger, just a strong emotion. Commonly, most people love to have fun, and with an untrained chiweninanna, they would have a double dose of it. This is why most of my race can be found in the brothels of Low District. The younger generation has earned the nickname, chiweni, for our kind. The War was the cause for this change.

I looked him in the eyes and said, “So?”

“So, why is a slut treating the ill?”

“Well, I figured that I could make them feel good.”

At first, Cavan couldn’t decide how to react, but soon, the feeling of disgust evaporated and the laughing began. Wiping away tears in his eyes because he laughed so hard, he said, “You’re an oddity.”

“Oddity if I was young, not if I was old.”

He studied me then, curiosity showing on his face.

He doesn’t understand. “It is the young…”

He interrupted, “Yes, I know that. It is…You’re older? You look younger than me.”

I snorted, “We always look young until we reach the age of ancient.”

“And that would be?”

“Two thousand years.”

“…”

I laughed, “You didn’t know?”

“Chiweninannas live as long as elves?” Cavan said in shock disbelief.

I laughed harder, “I’m afraid so.”

“Hhmmmm…”

Before Cavan could quiz me more, Livy appeared with an armful of bread and three canteens of water. I took one canteen and drank until it was empty. From there, I demolished the food in Livy’s arm. Both men watched as I ate and drank, neither interrupting my meal. I must have looked like a half starved vagrant if Cavan was hesitant to talk during this time.

Once finished, I was filled with happiness and satisfaction. Livy nudged Cavan to begin the interview. “I was informed by several people that a group of patchers from Low District arrived before word ever got out about the incident. Do you know about this?”

I sighed, “Yes.”

“Were you part of this group?”

“Yesss.”

Cavan’s eyes grew bright with excitement. The wolf found its prey, “The leader of the group is Hasan the Leech. Do you know where he is?”

I was shocked that he asked that question to me. I looked at Livy for answers, but he just smiled quietly at me and mouthed the words, “I never told him who you were.”

I nodded and answered Cavan’s question, “Yes, I do.”

The wolf started to chase down its prey…, “Where?”

I grinned, “Right in front of you.”

…and stumbled, “What?”

“I guess I never introduced myself. Sorry. The name is Hasan, just Hasan. I run a clinic in Low District.”

The wolf got up and began again, “Why was your group here so quickly?”

“Well…I am an empath, Cavan.”

“That is no reason. Other empaths could be found in Low District. They are not here and regardless, that still does not explain why you were here so quickly.”

I had no clue where he was taking this conversation to. Several questions popped into my head but were never spoken. Suspicion falls on everyone I suppose. “How? I felt it! Right before I reached my clinic, I…fainted because I felt everyone’s pain involved with the explosion.”

“I don’t believe you. No other empath from other districts felt this and the ones near enough are mental. They are mindless.”

I sighed and gave Livy a pleading look. Thankfully, Livy got the message, “Cavan, Hasan is telling the truth.”

“But I don’t understand.”

“Then, later on, find the answer. For now, we need to find out what happened here.”
“That’s easy. It was a backlash,” I calmly stated.
Both stared at me blankly, both skeptical. I ignored them, rolled my shoulders and massaged my neck. My whole body was stiff and sore.

“Stop drawing it out, Hasan, and explain,” Livy demanded.
I grimaced and said, “The center, where the explosion originated, is right where a known mage lived. Of what I have been told, he was extremely forgetful. He also recently bought sorhite. Because the lift was not working until recently and all the lights blacked out throughout Middle District, it is assumed the old mage caused a backlash.”

“He caused this disaster just because he bought sorhite?” Cavan asked. Cavan didn’t get it, but judging by Livy’s face, Livy did.

Backlashes happen when a spell is interrupted. They could either be large or small depending on the circumstance. They usually don’t null magical objects nearby it except when sorhite and dagdoya stones that store magical energy are involved.

The differences between the two are the amount of energy the stones can store and how hungry the stone is. While sorhite can store some energy, dagdoyas stores tons not stopping until it is filled to capacity. The stone draws in all the energy around it almost nulling the area including magic users. It is not permanent unless the object or person is exposed for a long period of time.

The old mage probably casted a spell using the sorhite whiles the stone was lying next to a dagdoya stone. When the sorhite was tapped into, it opened it up to the elements allowing the dagdoya stone to pull energy from it interrupting the spell in the process. The result was a backlash with the added effect of both stones exploding and nulling the area. The theory on the null effect is that the dagdoya is still trying to draw in energy.

Livy bowed and drew Cavan away from me, “We’ll see you later, Hasan. Get some rest.”

Feeling wretched and tired from the whole ordeal, I drag my feet in the direction of my home.

*Please let me make it to my bed before I fall asleep.*

The gods finally granted my wish.