Even Mountains Fall

A Start

This is a book. If you were confused about that then... well, I would assume you are a baby. In which case how are you reading this? This not going well. Let me try again.

This is a book. It is about me, a person. A person is not technically a human. I like to think that a person is something that can say "Hey! I am a person. Now leave me alone." I am probably a human, or at least I'm close enough. My Companion is a non-human person, a Davro to be exact. Yes, that is another language, and yes, I am getting to the actual story. This is just a bit of set up. A Davro is basically a wolf with giant hawk wings and a lion tail. His wings are six feet long and could fold in half to allow him to fit into tight spaces. His fur is thick and soft and as warm as any coat. And if you try to mess with either one of us, he will carry you by the scruff of your neck to one thousand feet and then drop you. Finally, I am glad you are reading this. It is nice to feel your harsh judgment rain down on my beautifully crafted words! And if you are actually a baby, then I would love to meet you some day.

Oh, I should probably let you know one more thing: my Companions name is Ldto, but I am going to write Ledto because it is easier to pronounce. You're welcome.

It was a cold spring morning. Not the cold where you turn towards your friend and say, "Burr, it's kinda chilly," and then continue on your merry way. No, this was the cold in which you keep your head down and walk as fast as you can to get out of it, the kind of cold in which, if you opened your mouth, your jaw would chatter until you broke your teeth (I know a guy with experience in this predicament; he used to love to talk). We were walking home from staff combat training. Well, I was training, but Ledto was terrorizing bird. (Ledto just told me he would never do something like that. I wouldn't believe him; I have seen him do it.) The wind could have blown down a forest giving the staff a purpose. They keep the training grounds far from the living area because someone once started a fire and we had to rebuild for weeks upon weeks. The village is split into two areas: one for training and one for living. The training area is a good ten minute walk from the living space and has a kitchen and training buildings. The living area is made out of cabins in a circle with the nicest ones, like mine, being in the center and the others around the rim. There are about fifty cabins with some holding up to five people. Mine, though, was private

As soon as we stepped inside my cabin Ledto and I took a nice, hot bath (not together! Get your mind out of the gutter you filthy animal!) and afterwards, I built a fire in the fireplace. It was a nice cabin. With a bed for me and a pile of straw and rat carcasses for Ledto. It also had a whole wall full of books.

Now you might be wondering, "You live by yourself? Don't you have some parents to coddle you and whip you into shape?" No, I had complete strangers raise me instead! In my society, all of the children must live in the valley and be taken care of by those that are younger than seventeen. Why seventeen? I don't know. Why apart form our parents? I don't know. When you turn seventeen, you have climb the western mountain to meet a couple adults. We don't know what happens after that because no one has come back from meeting them. Whenever a child is dropped off, the adult doesn't say a word and leaves. I started to take care of mine, Budel, when I was 10. We got into some wacky adventures. Budel is now taking care of his own kid but we stay in contact. Anyway, back to the story.

The next morning Ledto and I headed to the training fields for our last day. We saw Budel there and stopped to chat because let's face it, would you really go to class on your last day?

"Hey, Bud! How's the little one?" I asked. I am not to good with person on person conversation but Budel and I know each other pretty darn well.

"Lad? she's fine. You know I don't like being called Bud."

"Sure, Bud, sure" This was a joke of ours, I would call him Bud, he would complain about it, I would call him Bud again, he would knock the wind out of me. And sure enough, as soon as I knew it, I was on my back, no air left in my lungs. It was tradition of ours.

"How's Xez doing?" I asked, as soon as I could breath.. Xez is Budel's Companion.

"Xez is doing just fine. He enjoys playing if Lad's Companion. She hasn't named hers yet, but it's one that I haven't seen before. Looks like a fish, donkey, butterfly thing. It is already huge and awkward. Its mouth constantly flaps open and close. The wings don't fit well on the donkey's body. It is beautiful but as clumsy as all getout. You know what it is?"

"No, I don't. I would keep an eye on her though. The kids with the rarest Companions often can do amazing things."

"Yeah, I heard about this one gal, Who had a super rare companion. I don't even know how to describe it. Before she left she was able to literally move faster than the wind. I can't wait to see what Lad ends up doing. I should probably head to training." I could tell he was getting a little anxious to get to class

"Yeah same here. See you on the dark side Bud."

"See you on the dark side X-----" And I headed to classes. Now you might be wondering why I blanked out my name. Because it is my story, and I don't want you to know my name yet. I'll tell you eventually, but for now, all that you need to know is that it is six letters and starts with an X.

You know how I said that I had classes? I lied. All of us older kids actually teach the classes. Once we don't have to take care of little ones, which is around 12 or 13, we have to take a test to see if we are adequate teachers. That is what most of our books are filled with, combat techniques, plant recognition, and other survival techniques. If you fail the test then you continue to train. I teach how to use a staff and I am a true master at it, if I do say so myself. I also teach basic animal and plant recognition. I really love the staff though. I can make it move faster than a rushing river, balance Ledto on the tip, and make a sizable dent in any tree.

Before going to teach my class on berries, I grabbed some for breakfast. They are the type that looks poisonous but actually are the sweetest, ripest, and most filling. I like to scare my older classes by eating a handful of them. Once I was done teaching for the day, I started to prepare.

There wasn't much to pack. I had very little of personal value in the cabin. It nearly broke my heart to leave. I even though I had known all of my life that this would happen, I wasn't ready. How could you be ready to leave everything you know to possibly die on the way to meet a future that you are forced to take?

You can't take any books from the cabin because someone is going to live in your cabin after you. I took one anyway. It was a book of stories. Nothing important or helpful, just some of the stories we tell to little kids. Ledto had his bags full of food and of warm clothing. I had mine with even more warm clothing, the book, and some rocks. Some people make a big deal out of leaving the valley. They throw parties and perform ceremonies. I left without such a raucous. The only tradition that I observed was the giving of stones. I had engraved a stone for each of my friends. I left them on the front doors as I left town. I had only had five to give out and only two left from others that had left before me. Looking at the seven stones, I wondered how many people here would remember me when I left. Some people are known for years and years but I probably will be forgotten. With my staff in my hand and Ledto by my side, I followed the dark path up the mountain.