#dalamiq

Yvarr Qalli & Mukuli Dalamiq.

Mukuli Dalamiq.

Ulaan pushed the opening to the yurt open and walked back to where he had been staying with his sister for the last few weeks. The kids were all out playing, only his sister was there, darning socks while dinner boiled over the hearth.  He could smell the khorkhog stew wafting in the air as he moved though it. He looked around and started picking up things and was just lost. He knew she would get help, but it was going to be difficult on her own. 

“Ujin!  <I have to go away for a while.>” He just said openly, no time to mince words. He wasn’t sure when he would return, if ever. This could be the last time he saw any of his family ever again. He walked to the partition where his bed was situated, sat down on the feather down mattress, then rested his head in his hands.  

Ujin came into his area and rounded the wooden screen, poking her head around it.  “<Where are you going and for how long?>”her face was a mask of confusion and concern. She could see the consternation on his.  “<It’s going to be for a while, isn’t it…?>” Her body dropped some, and her tone sank. 

“<Yes. I will be living with the Jhungid until such time as they release me from what the Khatun has promised them. I will be able to visit, I think….>” His vision focused on an indeterminate spot off to his right as he thought about it.  “<I will not be here for you and the children. You will need to find additional help.>”

She came to sit by him on the bed and put her arm around his back. She leaned her head into him.  “<We will be fine, brother. We will be fine.>”

They spoke for a long time, making plans and ensuring the children would be accounted for. They had dinner before they sat around the fire pit, where Ulaan told stories of great heroes and how the village where they lived, Khoyor Gol came into being. They oohed and ahhhed, because this time he told it with a little bit of magic to emphasize certain parts. Sparks, flames, stone and pure red energy.  He gave them a flashy show that night.  Once story time was over, and they had performed their evening rituals and prayers, Ulaan helped his sister put them all to bed, he kissed every one of them on the head as he moved by each.  He rose and walked to the partition door to the children’s area, but stopped just before he exited.  

“<I will be gone to serve the Dusk Mother and Dalamud for a while, it may be some time before I return.  I love you all.>” Those kids had meant everything to him, and he treated them as if they were his own… the ones that were not lost and gone. He set them all on their paths as warriors, artisans, leaders and ugdans.  He had done all he could and felt like he was leaving them well prepared. He knew that if he did not go, they would not survive to see those paths.  The agreement was clear.  He went or they would have a fight similar to that of the Adarkim thumping at their door, but the Jhungid were stronger, smarter, and more organized.  It would not be a windmill of punches and screaming, it would have been a calculated assault, then slaughter of those who would not comply, and subjugation for those who were broken.  He would not see any more of his kin die needlessly.

He decided he would leave that night. There was no reason to wait, it only made gong that much more ominous. He packed up his weapons, some small projects he had been tinkering on and some clothing.  He gave his sister a prolonged hug and then walked out of the yurt. He called for his roc, Galyn and awaited her arrival.