As she woke up, she could hear excited chatter that seemed as though it was coming from all directions. Opening her eyes she could recognize the largest warrior from earlier, however the rest of the faces surrounding her were unfamiliar. As she focuses on the sounds around her, she can hear chanting coming from the people surrounding her. Looking up, she can see a variety of faces so tightly packed around her that she couldn’t see much else of her surroundings. Feeling claustrophobic, she tries to sit up, but is immediately stopped by the warrior from earlier. He gently pushes her back down and motions for her to remain quiet. 

As she looks around, she doesn’t sense that she is in danger, but the situation was quite strange. Looking up, she could see the warrior's gaze was now focused on the oldest member of the group surrounding her. As Kora watches, the old woman was the only one who spoke outside of the chanting. Despite recognizing that the language the old woman used was strange and unfamiliar, Kora found she could understand it if she paid close attention. Listening intently, she could hear the old woman asking someone or something questions, although the conversation seemed one-sided as she was unable to hear any responses. 

After a few more minutes of listening and no success at determining what the woman was talking about, the woman stopped talking and motioned her hands and everyone immediately went silent. It was eerie how quickly everyone stopped chanting and humming. There had been background noise for the last few unsettling minutes that she had been awake and the silence they left behind reignited her panic from a few minutes ago. Without any thought, she once again tried to sit up and found herself stopped by the warrior. However, this time, he allowed her to sit up, but blocked her exit to leave. 

“Child, there is no need to panic. No harm will befall you here,” the old woman says as she looks over at me. “I am Chief Elder Maize of our tribe, and you are a special guest here. You may call me Elder Maize.” With a wave of her hand, I watch as everyone except for the warrior disperses. 

As I take in her words, I look around at my surroundings. I find that I am sitting on a cot under a small covering. It couldn’t be described as a building as the structure only consisted of wall supports and a roof. From here, there was a good view of what seemed to be the center of the village. As I let Elder Maize’s words sink in, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that she seemed to be welcoming me into their village. I knew that I had no chance of surviving this wilderness on my own. Before I could respond to her, my stomach rumbling filled the quiet. 

With a small laugh she turns to the warrior and instructs him saying, “Nori, go get the poor girl some food and bring her some cold water as well.” 

With a nod, and a glance in my direction as if warning me not to go anywhere, he quickly leaves the two of us.

So his name is Nori, Kora thought to herself. Although she felt slightly embarrassed at the noises her stomach made, she felt so sick that she didn’t care nearly as much as she normally would’ve. Deciding to change the subject, she turns to Elder Maize and asks, “Did you find anything that might help us find my way home?”

With a small sigh and a look of pity filling her face she speaks saying, “Child, I truly wish that I would have better news for you. Unfortunately, from what I have seen in my visions, you were brought here by our enemies and we do not possess the technology to send you back. It is known that they wish to bring over different people and creatures that they find useful. In your case, they realized that you didn’t possess whatever qualities they were hoping for and they left you to die.” As she finishes her sentence she reaches over to gently squeeze my hand. 

Although Kora was trying her best to take in all of the new information, it was a lot to process all at once. Especially after Elder Maize’s hand touches her own. Normally, she would welcome this form of comfort and human contact especially after the day she has had, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she was being inspected… internally. Unconsciously, she quickly jerked her hand away from the elder and slid as far away on the cot as possible. 

Unfortunately at this exact moment, Nori arrived with the food and water and upon seeing Main character flinch away from the elder, he quickly set the food down on a nearby table and stood in front of Elder Maize as if to protect her. “What is going on here?” he says as he stares at me.

“Calm down.” Elder Maize says from behind Nori’s back. Elder Maize gently lays a hand on his upper arm as if to reassure him before continuing, “I tried to examine her reserve. She seemed quite sick so I wanted to check it, but as she isn’t one of us, I wasn’t sure that she’d even have one. Judging by her reaction, it seems that she’s got one, but doesn’t know how to control her essence properly.”

As Chief Maize finishes her explanation, Kora could see the relief wash over his body at her words. Wordlessly, he walks over to the table and brings over the food and water. “I apologize, please eat and drink as much as you’d like.” Nori says as he sits the tray on the cot next to her. 

“Thank you.” Kora says with a smile to Nori before grabbing the water and gulping greedily. She drank quite a bit of alcohol the night before, but judging by the sun currently going down, it had been almost a full day since she’d had anything at all to drink. Within a few seconds, she had finished all of the water in the cup and turned to Elder Maize, “What do you mean reserve? And essence?”

With a grin Elder Maize says, “Nori, refill her cup and bring a pitcher.” Without a pause, she looks Kora in the eye and says, “It is similar to what your people call magic. Your reserve holds your essence and also regenerates it. Essence allows you to encourage things to do as you wish. For example, you could use it to make the plants grow a bit faster, or to have an animal help you carry something heavy. With good enough control, you can even influence the weather for short periods of time. It is important, however, that you use this power of yours wisely. Failing to use it wisely can lead to unfathomable destruction.”

As she finished her explanation, Kora slowly munched on the fruit on my plate. Despite the fact that she was starving earlier, she was more desperate for liquid. As soon as Nori arrived with the pitcher and cup, she quickly drank 2 more small cups in quick succession. The two of them had remained quiet as she drank more water, however as she looked back towards them, she could see that Elder Maize was preparing to speak. 

“Child, I will be leaving you in Nori’s care for the night. As you can see it is getting quite dark and none of us want to be outside in the dark,” she says as she gestures to the sun that has almost completely set. “He has a spare room in his home and that will be where you stay. If you need anything, just let him know and he will do his best to provide it for you.” Turning to Nori, she continues, “She is important and I expect you to protect her with your life. Am I understood?”

He seemed a bit surprised at how vehemently Elder Maize insisted that she be protected, but she could see the moment he decided not to question her orders and he answered, “Of course, Chief Maize. I will do my best. When would you like to see her tomorrow?”

“Give the girl time to adjust and explain to her as much as she wants to know. She will be a curious one, but she needs to know as much as you can teach her.” Elder Maize says before walking away without even waiting for a response.

Just then Kora realized that it was just the two of them alone and given Elder Maize’s warning earlier, the encroaching darkness served no purpose other than to feed her fear. As she watched the last of the sun disappearing over the treetops, she couldn’t help the fear that gripped her at the sound of rustling leaves behind Nori. Although Nori instantly assumes a fighting position, she couldn’t fight the feeling that whatever truly lurks in the night would be a formidable foe that would prove a challenge even for him.