Crawler was one last time pulled from the trance of pain. He was shaking; his body felt like he had been pressed under a rolling boulder. His flesh burned, and his breath came in ragged gasps.
“Impressive. Never have I ever been a part of a four-part binding. Thank you.” She smiled, also obviously spent. Sweat covered her, and her own hands shook.
Crawler felt Trickster crawl out from behind his ear; the tiny spider looked at Blackfinger for a long moment. Something passed between them, and she nodded to the spider. He heard the voice of Trickster in his mind, “You are not ready to bind another. It would destroy your soul with such a burden. Also, I will not be bound. I will accept being your partner but never allow myself to be bound as the others do. Not with a fragment of myself, not with the greater part.” With finality, Trickster crawled into Crawler’s nose, and he shuddered and sneezed.
Crawler sighed in relief. He took shallow breaths and drank from the waterskin. He looked at Blackfinger as she gazed at him. “You need to hurry, young man, cleanse yourself with clean water and go do your Passage Ceremony. You do not seem like the sort to be late.” She stood carefully, wobbling slightly. She moved through the curtain at the back of the circular home and left Crawler alone.
With a few breaths and pulling a trickle of mana, he managed to dredge up enough energy to rise. Deep soreness, swollen skin, and a level of mental weariness he had never had before. He stumbled to the door and saw that the sun was beginning to set. This galvanized him and urged him forward, struggling down the ladder and sliding down the last few rungs. He did not notice the odd looks he got as he hurriedly stumbled across the planks. Ink and blood still oozed down his back, flaking off where it had dried. He came to Trouble House and saw Ancient Sandvine sitting in his chair by the door. The Ancient half rose as Crawler came past him through the door. The elder’s eyes were wide, and he raised a hand to slow the boy, but he was inside and rushing to the bathroom. He stopped at his footlocker for his grooming kit and clean clothing. The other kids gaped at him, whispering and pointing. Luckily he didn’t have to wait as he moved into the bathroom.
An hour later, he retraced his hurried steps. He was amazed at the volume of ink-stained blood that had come off his body. He dropped his kit onto his cot and turned to leave. He turned around to find Sandvine standing at the door. The Ancient blocked the path Crawler intended to take. The old man looked amused and crossed his arms, and his old sword leaned on the wall next to the door behind him. “Where do you think you’re going, Crawler?”
“Passage Ceremony, honored Ancient.” Crawler replied, still tired but a bit refreshed from the bath.
“You need to make a passage to get there, young man,” Sandvine said, smiling.
Crawler knew the routine; this was part of the trials. He had to get past the old man to get out to the Ritual Circle. Too tired to physically fight against Sandvine, Wali raised a hand and snapped his fingers as he said a small word of power. A minute burst of lightning leaped between thumb and forefinger, and the intense flash of light blinded Sandvine, who flinched away. As Sandvine jerked away, Gulli burst from his chest and charged toward the elder with Crawler right behind him. The Ancient stepped aside as the young man ran past. This was not much more than a test, not a real challenge.
Despite the late hour, Crawler’s feet thudded into the planks of the raised walkways. He did not have to do the ceremony today. It was customary, tradition. He knew it was not his actual birthday, just the anniversary of the day he was found in the river. The ceremony was significant to Crawler and the Colri. The Passage Ceremony marked when a child became an adult. It marked when someone could take a Long Walk, and Crawler was ready to go and explore the wide world. Crawler also knew that today was the anniversary of his passage into this world, having been reincarnated into the tiny body of a babe just a few weeks old.
Clouds had moved in over the area, and a light rain had begun to fall, making the planks slick. Crawler was so very tired, and this made him clumsy. More than once, he earned himself a fresh bruise to go with his new ink. Eventually, he made his way out of town to the vast rings of tiles surrounding the Totem Stone.
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Taking a moment to calm down and center himself, he knew he had a couple more hours, but impatience drove him forward. He had been waiting sixteen years for this. Wallace was more than ready to get out of Colri territory. Trickster had teased tidbits about the world, things to do and see. The Colri Plains were but a tiny fragment of the planet. It was a simple mana-pour area too. A starter zone, as Wali thought of it.
He began to draw in mana from the air surrounding himself, tapping into the power of the nearby river and the winds of the plains. He pushed some of this mana into the glyph of Heart and felt the cooling power of healing flush through his body. He existed in the moment for a time, one with the rain, the river, and himself. After some time, he sensed a presence he understood he had been allowed to feel. He looked over to see the Spirit Talker standing nearby. They shared a look, one of understanding. Longtooth had been a mentor to the boy for six years. If anyone could be said to know the boy, it was Longtooth. He had given Crawler that name and had taught him about the power and language of the spirit world. Longtooth had come to witness the ceremony. Having a witness was not necessary for the Passage Ceremony, but it was common for one’s family to come.
Crawler stepped up to the outermost ring of plain gray unmarked stones. Here he began the ceremony. “Great and Honored Spirits, I thank you for protecting me and raising me as one of your own.” Crawler called out to the winds, his voice strong a firm. Far stronger and deeper than it had been six years ago today. When he finished speaking, a swirl of power surrounded the Totem Stone. The stone foundation below the colored tiles began to glow once again. To Crawler’s right, the glyph of Void “Uuh” began to shine as the ring of tiles rotated toward him. Crawler felt the empty power of the Void mark itself on his soul. One of the Aspects of Power, it was not cold nor hot but empty. There was no suction nor pull to the glyph, and Crawler understood that this was not simply the emptiness of a true vacuum but the utter annihilation of all things.
He stepped forward onto the glowing tile and said, “Great and Honored Spirits, I have learned the ways of my people, to understand their ways, and to work alongside them.” He called to the rain and the river. To his left, the Glyph of magic “Aa” lit up, and Crawler could hear Longtooth make a strangled noise of surprise and shock. Crawler did not look away, his eyes locked forward onto the Totem Stone. The second ring of tiles spun around toward him, and the glyph marked his soul when it arrived. A wash of pure mana flooded him. This glyph had an understanding of how the glyphs were the code that underwrote the world and how the very fabric of magic interacted. Without the years of training, Longtooth had imparted, it would be confusing, but the ideas and understanding were quickly integrated into Crawler’s mind.
Crawler stepped forward onto the tile. He said, “Great and Honored Spirits, I have proven myself to these totems, and they have marked me.” He said to the earth below the stone circle. Noodle slid up out of his shirt to coil around his neck. Neferu’s eyes and nose peaked out of the stone to his right, and Gulli rubbed against his left leg. Tag flew down to land on his head, picking at his hair for a moment, and even Trickster crawled from his sleeve as a tiny spider. The third ring of stones spun around, but no glyph lit up. When the tiles stopped, Crawler stepped forward. The nimbus of power around the Totem Stone was a pale blue flame reaching above Crawler’s shoulders.
Crawler said, “Great and Honored Spirits, I have walked the path of my people as a child. I have passed the trials of my people. I would claim my rights as an adult to walk my own path!” The innermost ring of tiles began to spin. The tile of Senses “Ese” glowed brightly. Again Crawler heard Longtooth exclaim something that he could not quite understand. As the tile slid into place in front of Crawler, it branded his soul as the others had. His vision sharpened, his hearing picked up the faint noise of Longtooth’s clothing rustling, and he could count the fibers of his pants by touch. The additional sensory input almost overwhelmed his worn-out mind then and there. But there was one last step forward to take.
With one final step, Crawler moved forward and placed his hands on the Totem Stone, now a bonfire blaze of power. As his hands touched the stone, his mind was overwhelmed. He was transported to a space of darkness; the cacophony of animal calls again came to him, and the myriad of Totem Spirits, great and small, seemed to form a single voice. “You are one of us; carry our children and our wayward cousin with reverence.” Crawler was slammed back into his body the next moment, and he slumped to the ground unconscious.