Revolutions

32 - Walumaq

The sun's descent matches the weight in my heart, a cascade of words unraveling a story I'm not prepared to share. The three of us step into a hidden, secluded clearing, separate from the rest of the men who are under the command of this 'Qumuna'. He is a large man, and though very seasoned, still possesses a well-toned body with broad shoulders. 'Paxilche', on the other hand, is lean, but nowhere close to the fitness of the other warriors. Both men have straight, medium-length black hair, and where Qumuna's is tied up in a tidy bun behind his head, Paxilche's hair hangs unhindered. Everyone present wears white and red, easily identified as Qiapu colors, although Qumuna and his men are highly decorated with numerous wooden beads of red, yellow, blue, and green worn on necklaces, while the man I first encountered wears simple wool clothing, the thread looking soft and fibrous.

Having never before met anyone from Qiapu, an interesting trait I find is their abundance of tattoos and piercings, which, I assume, is representative of certain achievements or status—I'll have to inquire about this when I'm not being interrogated for suspicion of... doing something offensive or suspicious of which I'm unaware. Marked with various geometric shapes, Qumuna's arms are almost entirely black, and he wears an abundance of gold and obsidian piercings. Though still tattooed, Paxilche wears a small number of gold rings that line his ears, and his markings only descend just above his elbows, unlike the other warriors serving Qumuna, who have both arms fully decorated.

"Upon the Arbiter's messenger extending an offer for my family to play a pivotal role in developing the royal naval forces," I say, "our scouts also alerted us to the presence of an insurgent group. Ready to engage in diplomatic discourse, we journeyed to Chalaqta to meet with Iatuq, the esteemed Voice of the Arbiter. What we thought would be a mere fact-finding mission unraveled into an unexpected revelation, unveiling far more than we had initially anticipated."

I have to prepare myself for the next part of my explanation, recounting the terrible scenes that occurred the night I returned from meeting the crone, Xasiq. The night both my brother, Pahua, and I betrayed our family, one could say. I see Qumuna and Paxilche lean in as I pause, so I push on with the retelling of my final night in Chalaqta.

"I stumbled upon a secret meeting between some of the Tapeu nobility, plotting something sinister. The details were vague, but it involved multiple Tapeu cities—Chalaqta and the continent's capital, Qapauma. They claimed to have multiple groups operating, coordinating efforts. Once I informed my father, Siunqi, we were about to formulate a plan, to determine the next steps while ensuring our people's safety. We didn't have a chance to enact it, however: That night, this terrorist organization executed a rival and his entire family. They were murdered there in the streets, gruesomely and without remorse..."

I begin to choke up when I recall the horrific scene, as well as how Pahua was misguided by his own hubris. After I calm myself down, I recognize that I should be careful about what I say, not wanting to implicate the entire Sanqo people in this betrayal by mentioning my brother's involvement, as if we were aligning with the group of vile insurgents.

"Fearing for our safety, my father and our men fled back to Sanqo. However, seeing the horrific display, I believe I have a greater purpose here, on the continent. Knowing that this group is operating in the shadows, there has to be a way to stop them, which I hope to discover."

"What did this organization call themselves? Do they have a name?" Qumuna begins stroking his chin as he considers what I've said.

"Yes, they announced themselves before they executed the family. They call themselves the Eye in the Flame. I believe they carry around a copper coin with the imprint of an eye at the base of a flame, to indicate their membership."

I reach inside my satchel to retrieve the coin I found inside a tent on the grounds of the uli-poq court, but to my horror, it's not to be found. I attempt to mask my panic, not wanting to alert them to the missing evidence, yet I fear what may have become of the misplaced coin and who now possess it. Instead, I carry on as if the coin was never meant as part of my recounting of events, trying my best to remain calm.