Just as Gaius and his family made their way home, a member of the village guard ran up to his mother to make a report. Gaius, Gen, and Duncan turned to look at her questioningly. They could see the look of worry and concern on her face and before they could ask her what was wrong, she said reassuringly, “Something important came up, nothing to worry about though. Go on home without me.” Tulia gave her two boys a hug and kissed her husband.

Without a second thought, Duncan corralled the two home to rest from the night’s festivities. It was several hours later that Duncan heard his wife enter their home. Sitting within the dining room, he looked upon his wife’s face and a bleak smile escaped her lips as she settled down onto a chair.

Without waiting for her husband, she began, “There’s a herd of wild kwach’a heading our way. That was a messenger from Fort Winter notifying all nearby villages to be careful. The fort sent out a regiment to deal with the herd but it’s always good to be cautious. How are the boys?”

“Fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillows. So we don’t have anything to worry about?” Duncan asked.

“The herd isn’t more than 300 strong, with our defenses we should be able to hold them off if they slip through. We’ll have some casualties, but nothing we can’t recover from.”

“Did Fort Winter send aid?”

“No. Chief Hemuk would need to make a formal request. And our taxes only cover ‘defense against the villainy of men’, so aid against a herd of wild beasts will bump our taxes up for the next quarter.”

Duncan let out a sigh as he listened to his wife, “Alright, let’s get some sleep. It’ll be at least another day before the herd can get here right? Assuming they get through the garrison guards.”

“Yes, two days at most. I’ll wash up and join you in a bit.”

With a sly smile Duncan replied, “Or we can wash up together.”

The next morning, most of the villagers were excused from their chores as they recovered from a night of merrymaking. The mood was quiet and a bit lethargic as Gaius observed the adults slowly trod around the village groaning. Remembering what his father told him last night during the feast, Gaius entered his father’s workshop looking for the Iron Mother. To his surprise even his father had yet to wake, as he was usually the first one up making breakfast or distilling some tonic. Gaius found the Iron Mother and picked it up and put it on the cart nearby. He rolled it out through the back gate while going through the village.

Gaius greeted each adult he saw with enthusiasm and childish cheer, but to his astonishment he was greeted with muffled groans and barely-veiled annoyance as they returned his salutation. Some of them covered their eyes or cradled their heads as they made their way through the village. To his surprise there seemed to be a large gathering at one of the water wells as they gorged themselves on water and sat on the ground. Without even realizing it, Gaius appeared before Sumi’s workshop.

As the village’s only shieldsmith, her status was just as high as his own father. Her house was one of the largest among the villagers not because of any special status, but because of the forge attached to her home. Much like how his own home had an alchemist’s workshop attachment.

Gaius waited patiently as he knocked on the door. After several breaths, Gaius knocked again. Before he attempted to knock a third time, he could hear light footsteps approaching him from the other side. Kumi opened the door with an apprehensive look and she spoke in low whispers, “Not so loud! You’re going to wake up mommy. And . . .”

Before she could finish what she was saying a loud roar could be heard in the back of the house and Kumi’s face instantly paled, “Forsaken Father! Who’s here so early in the morning!?”

Not knowing how to respond as Kumi suddenly disappeared from the door, Gaius stumbled, “Um, i-it-it’s me ma’am. G-Gai-Gaius Wyn. M-My father told me to bring you the Iron Mother today. . .”

“Quit your stuttering and lower your voice,” Sumi shouted while holding her head with both hands.

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

“Ugh. It’s so bright out. Go fetch Mr. Ogata for me, be quick about it. Well, what are you still standing there for?!”

“Um, which Ogata ma’am?”

“The water one, um—what his name. The one that can cure this splitting headache. The other one. Dan, that’s it. Dan Ogata. Bring him here.”

“I wonder if they ate something bad,” Gaius thought to himself as he saw all of the adults in the village complaining about their sensitivity to light and loud noises. Gaius quickly made his way through the village to find the Ogata residence. Learning from his first mistake, Gaius lightly rapped on the door and patiently waited for a response. Unlike Sumi, Gaius was answered by Dan himself with a cheerful disposition. “Uh, hello Mr. Ogata. Miss Loti would like for you to visit her whenever it is convenient for you.”

Dan’s smile grew wider as he silently chuckled to himself and shook his head, “Guess the shows over. Okay. Lead the way, Gaius.” Gaius turned to lead him back to Sumi’s house, as he left he noticed that there was a chair and blanket behind the window of Mr. Ogata’s house. As Gaius and Dan made their way through the village, Gaius could feel the sudden soothing chill of an aura. He turned behind him to look at Mr. Ogata in awe. “So refreshing!” Gaius thought to himself as he relaxed in the soothing chill of the Water Aspect. The villagers groaned in discomfort, but Gaius could see how the aura permeated through their body and cleansed them of their lethargy. The now-refreshed villagers greeted, smiled, and gave thanks to Mr. Ogata as they were cleansed. Through Sumi’s door, Gaius could see Mr. Ogata’s aura cleanse her too.

Just as they approached the doorstep, the door swung open with a smiling Sumi greeting them. “Thanks a ton Dan!” Sumi bellowed as she slapped the man on his back with such force that Gaius winced in pain for the man.

“Ah, ha. Yes. No problem. I’m going to go around and see if I can help out,” Dan responded with a sheepish smile as he retreated with a slower and more methodical gait, as if he was suppressing an injury.

Sumi took in a breath of fresh air and smiled, “Ah! This feels good. Alright boy, down to business. C’mon back.” They walked through the parlor and living room to finally enter the forge at the back of their house. “Your father says that you’re interested in seeing the Iron Mother work her magic, eh?”

Gaius nodded vigorously. Gaius saw the forge, a colossal thing with a large billow to its side and a small opening at its center. Around the forge was an anvil and large vats of water, and along the side of the smithy was a large workbench. Sumi danced through her smithy expertly and arrived at a corner where she tucked the Iron Mother away. Gaius could see that the Iron Mother was resting peacefully in a clay pot filled with fertile soil, but the bottom of the clay pot is cut off and it was submerged in a tray filled with iron ingots. Sumi was watching Gaius’s fascinated gaze and smiled, she explained, “While the Iron Mother has an affinity for metal, the root system is still within the realm of my Aspect, which is wood. Here watch this.” Sumi concentrated and a robust and ancient aura of brown was tightly directed towards the Iron Mother’s fertile soil. Slowly but surely, Gaius could see small tendrils of a root system spreading out of the clay pot and lodging itself around and in between the iron ingots. After a few breaths she examined the root system herself and smiled, nodding in satisfaction at the healthy roots. Sumi off-handedly asked, “What’s your affinity? You don’t happen to practice the Aspect of Metal do you? It’d be nice to see this Iron Mother go to work.” A period of silence brought her back to reality and she examined whether or not she was alone in her smithy, only to find a downcast-looking Gaius. She then immediately recalled that the 10 year-old boy still has yet to condense an Aspect. To get out of this awkwardness she decided to double-down on her mistake, she was never known to retreat and asked the boy, “Sorry, I forgot that you haven’t condense an Aspect yet, huh.”

Gaius shook his head solemnly.

Sumi recalled something form her past, “You know. When I was a kid, I remember there was a boy in my village that had his Awakening when he was 2 years-old. Yeah, it’s rare, but it happens,” she said as she looks at the incredulous look the boy was giving her. She continued, “He had it at such a young age, that he thought it was normal to be able to see the embers of the Fire Aspect, as if everyone could see the essence of Fire. It wasn’t until later that the boy and the village realized that he had his Awakening much earlier and could condense an Aspect at the age of 2. Do you think you’re like that?”

“Well, my mom and dad said that I’ve already had my Awakening, but I am unable to condense an Aspect. I don’t really know though, we’ve tried everything.”

To her surprise, she learned that the boy has already has his Awakening, so she inquired, “So, what do you see? Brown dots? Red dots? Green, white, amber, or perhaps blue?”

“Mom and dad said that I’m a bit abnormal, I don’t see dots. I see bright dense colors. Like an ocean of brown, white, or blue. I just can’t condense them.”

“Wait. You can see an ocean of colors?”

Gaius nodded.

Sumi studied him and she emitted her Aspect of Wood to test the boy. His face changed from sad contemplation to relaxed elation. She controlled her aura and asked the boy, “What do you see?”

Her question brought him out of his reverie and he looked at her. On top of her head was a silhouette of a tree. The comical sight brought a smile to his face and Gaius tells her, “You have a very big tree growing on top of your head.”

Stunned at the revelation, she changed the configuration of her aura multiple times and asked him what he saw. Every time she changed her aura she used more and more control and established more and more details, like how many leaves the tree had or how many branches; and to her surprise the boy answered each question easily and quickly. “You are a weird one. You have such fine control over your senses. Normally, only another Wood Mages would be able to see the essence of another, and even then they’re more like dots that are pieced together. But for some reason you’re able to see my aura very clearly. Hmm”

Gaius stood there sheepishly.

“And I assume your parents have coaxed you into condensing one of the Aspects?”

Gaius nodded.

“And you couldn’t condense anything?”

He nodded again.

“Odd.”

After his visit to Sumi’s workshop, Gaius departed to the village barracks. Although most of the villagers earned a day off, the news of a kwach’a attack put the village guard on alert. As Gaius approached the barrack’s training ground, he could hear the grunts and thwacks of their spars. On the ground panting heavily was Gen, “Ha. I think. Ha. I need. Ha. To take. Ha ha. A break,” he spoke through each breath. Towering over him was his mother dressed in her usual leather with not a single mark on her armor or bead of sweat upon her brow.

“A kwach’a isn’t going to give you a break. Up!” she roared.

Gen reluctantly tried to get up, only to fall onto his knees again panting for breath. Seeing this, Dan got up from his spot in the shade and headed over to the fallen Gen. It was at this time that Gaius entered the training ground. Seeing Mr. Ogata spread his refreshing blue aura towards his brother caught Gaius by surprise as he took in the scene before him. With his fatigue gone, Gen got up reluctantly and stared at his mother, readying himself for another bout. Luckily for him, Gen’s mother spotted Gaius at the other side of the yard and gave him a break while she beckoned her firstborn over.