When War Calls(66)
‘What are you doing here?’ Jaden asked, now with anger in his voice. ‘Why have you come … to help a poor, lost, wandering child? I don’t need your help. You had your chance. You could have saved my family. You could have saved my home. You have nothing I want.’
Jaden looked up at the woman, hoping to see sympathetic eyes looking back, but she had not moved at all and her eyes were still closed. As he saw this, he let his head drop and he too closed his eyes. It was too much. He couldn’t handle the pain anymore. He just wanted to give up, to be alone and to get away from everything there was.
This woman was Daijuarn. It was the only possibility that made sense, and if the Daijuar were not going to fight for the innocent against the Alliance, why should he even try?
Ever since he was a child, he had wished to meet one of the Daijuar, but now that he sat only a few feet across from one, he didn’t care. His childhood fantasies had disappeared with the world he had thought he knew. And now he realised all was hopeless. There was nothing left for him, nothing worth fighting for. It had been a tragedy that should never have happened. Now it was all gone, and he was more alone than he had ever been in his entire life, betrayed by even the hope that the Daijuar were at least still on this planet helping those weaker than them.
Jaden sat in silence. The tears stopped and his thoughts became steady. He wasn’t sure what had come over him, why he had felt the emotions so strongly all of a sudden. He knew he couldn’t give up. For the little purpose there was in living, there was even less in his death. At least now he knew how the Daijuar felt about the problems of the world. He couldn’t rely on them, but he could rely on those in Corsec—the men and women already fighting for what they believed to be right in the Resistance. That’s where he would go. That’s what he would do. He would continue on his journey, just as he had planned when he left Callibra the day before.
‘I’m going,’ he said. ‘I don’t need your help.’
Jaden stood, looked once more at the woman, and then turned to walk away.
‘There are fruit trees behind you.’
She had spoken. He almost didn’t understand what had been said. He had expected her to say nothing, even as he left the clearing. Had she purposely ignored him?
‘Now you speak,’ he said. ‘Tell me why you didn’t come to protect us. I know you are of the Daijuar.’
There was no answer. The woman was silent again. She would not honour his questions.
Jaden felt his stomach growl in anticipation at the mention of food, and walked toward the trees the woman had mentioned, thinking of her voice. It was soft and confident but almost with a hint of anger, even though she showed no sign of feeling any rage toward him. Her appearance had not changed at all. Her mind was stronger than he had first expected. To be able to remain in such a meditative state without reacting to anything he had said was a sign of years of practice. He would need to find a different means of retrieving the information he wanted from her.
He reached the place where the woman had directed him and soon found that there were several trees only twice his height clustered with little green fruits. He had missed them earlier because he had never seen them before. He hadn’t known what to look for. He picked one and held it up, putting it to his nose. It smelled sweet, like nothing else he had ever eaten. Inside was a yellow flesh with a taste that was tangy, but sweet like it had smelled. After the first two, he soon couldn’t control his hunger and began to eat as many as he could. He lost track of time as he took his fill from the trees, almost forgetting that the woman was even nearby.
As he finished, he walked back to the stream to wash his hands, thinking of what the woman had said to him. She must have heard everything, but she had spoken calmly to him, as if all of his problems had been because of an empty stomach. He started to remember that no traveller had ever spoken of what the Daijuar were like in person. He hadn’t known what to expect. He only knew of their abilities on the battlefield, some of the power they possessed and what they fought for. He had wanted her to be angry with him, to feel some of the pain he had endured. But she had not responded at all, invincible to his attacks. Although he wanted answers from her, he decided it best not to push for them. He would simply leave her as she was.
He washed his hands, thinking it over. She would not feel guilt or shame for not helping his people. She had seen things from all over the world. She would have fought in countless battles. The world she knew must have been vastly different place to the one he had grown up in.
She was of the Daijuar.
But despite his resolve and wishing to walk away, he couldn’t go. He had to learn more of who she was, more about the Daijuar. He couldn’t pass this opportunity, not when it was right before him. Few people had ever had this chance. No matter how bitter or how hurt he felt he had to take it while he could.