Chereads / Conquest of Eyin / Chapter 5 - Starting Point

Chapter 5 - Starting Point

Nala, David, and I all sat there in embarrassment for our lack of...everything. We had no knowledge about Tribal Graces, we had no knowledge about the economy, or the government, or anything else. How are we supposed to help them? Lia looked at us affectionately and said "Don't worry about what Luki said. We knew that there were going to be gaps that we needed to fill once we got you out and that's what we are going to talk about now." I sat up and my chair and started to focus on what was about to be said. These people saved me from an underground room that had no light, I have to at least help them in some kind of way. Lia said "First things first, we need to give you guys lessons about everything. From basic math, to political affairs you all need to learn about what is happening in the world. Secondly, you all need basic physical training to build up your body for the tasks ahead. You all have been very underfed and malnourished but with a little time, good eating, and exercise, we will get you all into fighting shape. Third, we have to start teaching you about how Graces work and how to control them. The teaching about Graces won't come until you all have the right amount of physical endurance. If your body is too weak, then you'll just overexert yourself and pass out. Any questions?" Nala raised her hand and said "I don't mind learning all of these things but, what if I don't want to fight? Why do I have to put my life on the line for a cause that I know nothing about? Why am I needed for your pans? Obviously people don't want us to be involved." She pointed in the direction where Luki had walked out of the room. David responded and said "Don't you want to repay them for freeing you? Aren't you mad at whoever stuck us into those caves in the first place? Don't you want revenge?" "Not really. I never asked to be saved and now that I am free I can do what I want to do right? So I choose not to fight." Jed and Lia stared at her with a defeated look and then Jed said, "You're right. We can't make you fight for us. We can't make you learn about anything. It was wrong for us to assume that you wanted to fight anyway. You all are free to decide on how you want to spend your time." I immediately chimed in and said "I want to help! They killed my parents and I want to get revenge for that! I don't know about being a leader or anything like that but I want to handle the people who made me and my friends like this." "Don't call us friends!" Nala said. "We barely know anything about each other how can we be friends. Hell I didn't even know what you looked like until we got out of those cells!" I looked at her with a hurt expression on my face. Sure we don't really know that much about one another, but we don't have any memories from before we met. So do we really know anything about ourselves? As I thought about this, David said, " I want to help. Zahir is my friend. But how do you know they killed your parents?" I paused and stared at him and asked " They didn't tell you?" Nala then interrupted and said "Tell us what?" Jed responded and said, "I was going to use this time to tell you all the history of your people but Zahir asked the right questions when he woke up. I'm willing to tell you know if your willing to listen?" "Now is as good a time as any." said Nala as she leaned back in her chair. "Go ahead I'm ready." And Jed retold everything that he had told me; the death of my family, the state of the country, and about the different tribes. At the end of what I knew he said "Now this will be new information for all of you, but it's important for Nala and David to focus on this part. Nala's family is originally from the Yifoya tribe and David's is from the Azus tribe. Both of your families lead a revolt against the Ul and perished by their hand. As compensation for their betrayal, the newly appointed leaders were told to hand over the children of the leaders of the revolt so that they may be imprisoned. This was to lessen the power of the tribes because the Ul noticed the amount of Grace the you two were given, they wanted to eliminate the threat." Nala asked "Why didn't they just kills us then? Wouldn't that be easier?" "Actually no" Lia replied. "The Gods that each tribe represent chooses the leader of the tribe using two different criteria. One is by family of decent. If you are a descendant of the founder of the tribe then you have the possibility of inheriting the power of their Grace. Two is the worthiness factor which comes second. If you have one or more siblings within the main line of descendants then the most worthy one will receive the greater amount of Grace. Since you all had no siblings and you were direct descendants of the founders of your tribes you all have inherited the most amount of Grace that you can receive. Since the Ul tribe knew that so they kept you imprisoned so that power would not escape back into the tribes and cause another revolt." David had a confused look on his face and then it went from confusion to a very calm demeanor. "So, you're telling me that they killed my family too?" Lia and Jed nodded their heads in unison. "We are sorry that you found out about it this way but you needed to know" said Jed. Both Nala and David sat at the table quietly in contemplation. Finally, Nala said, " So now that we are free, what will the Ul do?" Jed replied "They already have search parties out looking for you all. If you don't want to fight we completely understand and will do everything in our power to protect you, but you will never be able to leave us or you will be caught by the Ul." Nala thought about what Jed said and replied "So we don't have a choice? I might as well learn from you guys, but don't expect me to fight for a cause that I still don't know if I agree with." Lia said to "That's fine. In that case, how about we start your physical training tomorrow? Zahir just woke up and recovered and I don't want him to behind the both of you. Is that okay?" We all shook our heads in unison. Honestly they threw a lot of information at me and I was emotionally drained from all of the information. Plus the food made me pretty drowsy, so I wanted to go to sleep.As we were getting up I paused and asked "How long will it take us to start helping out with the fighting?" Jed smiled and responded "That depends on how fast you all grow. When you wake up tomorrow we'll take your measurements. Have a good night's sleep." and we left the room.