The rest of the day’s travel passed without incident, and as the world beneath the canopy darkened, they came upon the flaming torches of the Naryang night watchmen. The air felt thick with tension as Levi approached, hands held to his side in a supplicating gesture.

“Greetings, Speaker,” he intoned with an air of ceremony. The watchman standing in their path gave a shout and adopted what appeared to be a ritualised fighting stance before commanding Levi to advance and be recognised.

“Levi Hagalya, of the Aluwai, seeking to barter for lodgings for the night.”

“The Aluwai are recognised as friends. You may barter with the chief,” the Speaker replied, making a show of lowering his war club.

Jasmine watched the proceedings with growing perplexity as the watchmen and the guides relaxed, and Levi and the Speaker entered the village, shaking hands and laughing as they went. Though they had seemed somewhat antagonistic towards each other a second ago, Jasmine took the newfound joviality as the cue to enter and took a step forward, but was checked by Calris placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Not yet. This is part of the ritual too,” he said. “Levi is bartering for our lodgings. Once they’ve agreed on payment, the Naryang will escort us to the visitor’s sector of the village for the night.”

Jasmine found the whole thing very strange. Hearing Levi talking in port, it sounded like he travelled through this village frequently, and she wondered why they still had to wait outside. The jungle sounds; screeches and chitters and worse, were making her uneasy, and she was pretty sure she had heard something die violently just off the causeway a few miles back. She was fairly impatient to get inside the village perimeter.

“Well, I hope they hurry. The jungle was bad enough in the light of day,” she snapped. Though, on surveying said perimeter, it looked little safer inside.

The village was built on a platform of packed earth that rose only slightly higher than the marshy ground around it, with sharpened tree trunks set into the base at an angle to dissuade access. While it presented a barrier that would give most human thieves pause, and could probably make for a solid defensive fortification when manned by fighters, she wasn’t sure how much of a threat it actually posed to the larger swamp creatures she had heard about from Calris and Ban. All things considered, there were many other places she would rather be.

“Why the need for all the formalities? They know Levi here, right?”

“Like I said, it’s part of the ritual. Contact between the tribes can get violent quickly, so they have a formal process to make sure everything stays calm.”

“Interesting. I have never had exposure to a primitive culture like this before. It is fascinating.”

Calris looked at her sharply with a scowl on his face. “Primitive? Different from ours, certainly, but not primitive.”

“How would you describe it, then?”

They were interrupted by Levi’s return. His usual affable expression was gone as he stared at Jasmine. Evidently, he had overheard her comments.

“I would describe it as exactly what we need to survive here,” he said. “We have been granted lodging for the night. Follow me.”

Jasmine stood, feeling a little embarrassed at being caught out, as the others followed Levi into the village. Calris gave her a shake of the head as he passed, and Asim and Ban pointedly avoided eye contact while Ferez glared. She was going to be in trouble for this, she just knew it. But damn it, she wasn’t wrong!

She started walking, pushing her way to the front of the group next to Levi.

“I don’t mean primitive in a derogatory sense, Levi, just from a social evolution standpoint. It’s really quite fascinating,” she said in a conciliatory tone.

“Miss, I’m concerned.”

“Why?”

“Because you clearly have no idea how bloody condescending that was.”

Jasmine bit back a retort as they continued in an awkward silence, passing thatch huts where the women put children to bed, and the men regarded them warily, sitting on doorsteps with lit cigarettes dangling from their lips or chewing bright red nuts.

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The village was small, maybe a few dozen huts, and it didn’t take them long to reach a walled off area that she assumed was the visitor’s sector. Inside were three small huts around a central fire pit. The guides went straight to the furthest hut and disappeared inside while Calris and the others loaded wood into the fire pit. Levi turned to her, pointing at the central hut.

“You will sleep in that one for the night. I suggest you get some rest. And drink plenty of water. It is easy to dehydrate during the build-up.”

While the words themselves were innocuous enough, Levi’s tone implied he was still rather upset about Jasmine’s comment. She pursed her lips.

“Look, Levi, I am really very sorry if my words offended you, it wasn’t my intention,” Jasmine began, ignoring the groan from Calris and the “Jasmine, stop talking,” from Ferez. “There was no value judgement placed on my statement. It was just a simple observation.”

Levi sighed and turned to her. “Listen, Miss. Alone among the people of the Continent, we can survive in the jungle. Your ‘more advanced’ compatriots come here with no respect for us or the jungle, and without us holding their hands, they die. The swamp drakes and orniraptors are not the only threats. The jungle itself is hungry and feeds however it can. It is constantly trying to reclaim our land, sending toxic vines crawling over our barricades to sting and slay. It sends seeds that grow into the ‘weeping tree’, its victims struck blind, to wander in agony until they die so their corpse can nourish the jungle. It sends waters to flood our land and force us to take the land of others, so the bodies of those killed in war become its sustenance as well. Tell me, how do you think you survive in a place like this? What wonderful inventions or feats of magic do your people have that could help us survive? Metal rusts. Wood rots. The only thing that endures in Marduk is its people. How do you think we manage that?”

Jasmine was silent as she considered the question. Her observations so far reinforced Levi’s comment. Marduk seemed to destroy anything made by human hands in relatively short order, and without high walls and steel weapons, the jungle seemed a treacherous place. Yet here they were.

“I guess, in a place like this, the family unit is commonly responsible for ensuring the survival of its constituents?”

“Close, but a family cannot clear the jungle, tend the fields, watch the children, and defend against the large carnivores and other people. It takes a tribe, in which everyone is as family, to protect a village in Marduk.”

“I see. So, it’s like a traditional family unit, but of dozens of individuals as opposed to a few?”

“You’ve got it now, Miss. We aren’t primitive. In fact, we are the only people sophisticated enough to survive here.”

“I suppose I can concede that point. Although-”

Ferez put a firm hand on her arm.

“Shut. Up,” he growled under his breath.

Levi nodded, a smirk on his face as he gave a thankful nod to Ferez.

“How very mature of you, Miss,” he said to Jasmine, before he looked back at her with a thoughtful expression. “You know, you might actually be able to learn something from us. You strike me as the kind of person who doesn’t like relying on people.”

“That’s not true!” Jasmine said, feeling defensive, though whether it was because she had lost the argument or something else, she couldn’t exactly say. “I have Ferez.”

The old man snorted beside her.

“Your father?” Levi asked.

“Mentor.”

“Oh. Did not pick that, to be honest. Parents?”

“Dead.”

Levi grunted, “Anyone else?”

“Asim.”

“The bodyguard?”

“The… yes, I suppose that is fairly accurate.”

“Anybody else?”

Jasmine looked down at her feet. “No, not really.”

Levi’s expression turned into a frown, and then softened. “For what it’s worth, Calris and Ban really seem to like you, maybe start there?”

“Do you really think I need their help with anything?” Jasmine asked, smirking at the pointed glare from Calris in the background, then feeling bad when she saw the hurt look on Ban’s face beside him.

“You may be surprised, Miss. And, usually, if you are, it’s too late to do anything about it. Just something to think about,” Levi said, turning away and following the rest of the guides to the hut. “Good night, Miss.”

“Good night, Levi,” she called, feeling unsure of herself. Was she really as arrogant as he thought? She had to admit, she didn’t like to rely on people or become close to others. She had never felt she needed to. She had Ferez, she had Asim, and she had her work. Did she really need anything else?

She looked over to where Calris sat by the crackling fire, laughing now as Ban pranced around impersonating someone, most likely their captain. Those two were stronger together, and to be honest, she couldn’t imagine them ever being apart. Ban had helped save Calris’ life, treating his wounds after the first battle of the Keep, and from the stories she had heard, she knew it wasn’t the first time one had saved the other. More than that, though, they supported each other. For all their bickering, they were still companions, brothers.

She took a hesitant step towards the fire pit. She had gotten a glimpse of what that camaraderie was like when Ban had helped her through her nightmares, and when Calris, a man with whom she had shared little but animosity since they first met, had offered his support on the ship. Though she still suspected that was mostly because he wanted to bed her.

Jasmine shook her head and left the glow of the fire, turning to enter her hut. Ferez had saved her out of the goodness of his heart, of that she was sure, and Asim was a good man, but they were unique specimens. People used people.

Her parents had no use and so had been killed after they sold her. She had been little more than a possession, a commodity to be traded for money or for servitude. Even after her rescue and induction into the college, she saw backstabbing and self-service more than she saw genuine companionship amongst the other mages. Everyone fought and trampled those around them to reach the top. Relationships were a liability, and besides, she had the power to achieve her goals without anyone’s help. She would join the council, and she would do it off her own strength and intellect. Relying on others was just inviting more disappointment.