An Island for a Cloud

6.1 How to do the right thing

Zatz found Patz lying on the ground, his face hidden in the dry grass that had been trumped by hundreds of running feet. The bees and flies buzzed above Patz's head with joy and purpose that the boys did not share.

Zatz lowered himself to his knees and touched his friend's shoulder.

"Patz, the Soul Tying is about to begin. We should join the others," he said, motioning towards the Flizers that dotted the coastal strip around the shrine.

Silence.

"I told your parents I'd fetch you," Zatz tried again. "Ziya... I am sorry..."

More silence.

Zatz's gaze wandered from his friend to Klatz's motionless body lying nearby. He walked up to him and waved his hand before Klatz's face. The boy remained unmoving. It puzzled Zatz and he wondered what might have happened to him. He then shrugged and quickly hurried back to Patz's side.

Patz raised himself up from the ground and Zatz saw that his face was red and puffy. Patz began walking in the direction they had come from this morning.

"Wait!" shouted Zatz after him. He tried to grab Patz's by the arm, but he shrugged him off and continued walking.

"Where are you going? The shine is the other way," told him Zatz.

"I will get her back," replied Patz and Zatz' mouth flew open in disbelief.

"Wait! Are you out of your mind?" cried Zatz and planted himself on his friend's path.

"Get out of my way," said Patz pushing his friend aside.

"What about the Soul Tying?" asked Zatz.

"What does it matter? She is gone!" shouted Patz at his friend. Tears welled in his eyes anew. "I won't let her face the same fate as Old Zina! I will bring her back!"

"Patz... You can't be serious," Zatz tried to reason. But Patz could no longer hear him. He was running up the slope as fast as he could.

Zatz stood still, his gaze wandered between the trees where his friend had disappeared and the coastal strip where all the other Flizers were. It was a sad sight. Grieving families stood shoulder deep in the ocean. They washed away their grief with salty water and prayed to the Creators to watch over their stolen daughters. The girls' names will never be mentioned again. Dead must rest.

Zatz had waited for this day all his life and it was not at all how he had expected it to be. He felt sadness he never knew before.

On the way back to the village, heavy thoughts troubled Patz's mind. He was mulling over the events of that morning. Ziya's fearful face when the eagle's claws dug into her shoulders kept flashing before his eyes. He blamed himself for not having a better aim. And he flinched every time he remembered the look of surprise on Klatz's face when the stone hit him. Patz rushed home as fast as he could eager to be on the way, and it was not only the love for Ziya that drove him. He had to get away before Klatz could get to him. It did not matter that Patz had done it with his best intentions. This time Klatz's wrath ought to be terrible and thoughts of it made Patz shiver.

It was dark inside the house when Patz opened the door. He quickly filled up the travel bag he had on him, which still contained some of the food meant for the celebrations after the Soul Tying. He looked under his father's bed and pulled out an old wooden stick. His grandmother used to tell him stories about it. She said that a grey haired Forest Child gave it to one of their ancestors for help in need. Patz's father believed that it was just a normal stick and that his ancestor had invented the story. Still, Patz and his siblings were never allowed to touch it. However, curious as Patz was, he had examined the stick long time ago. This was how he knew that as old as the stick must have been, it was still as strong as it likely was on the day it was cut.