Ujana had never been a fan of the cooler seasons. It was one of the very reasons she liked spending so much time in Jauhar despite her love of traveling. When the time came to bundle up in shawls and thicker coats she was always full of complaints. After all, a youth spent in Oba meant she cared little for covering her skin or the bite that always left the tips of her ears chilled to the touch.

The world was more attuned to spirits at this time of year as well which left her a little more jittery than usual. While not nearly as connected to them as some members of her family, Ujana still felt their pull from time to time. It wasn’t uncommon for her to see a swirl in the tall, candy grass and interpret it as a sign. In Oba it had resided in the color of the fire. One night when she was particularly upset she’d thrown what she thought was a normal candle into the fire and it had burst apart in a flurry of purple flames. She’d been suspiciously calm for weeks afterward. Whether that was out of fear of spiritual retribution or just a general fear over the explosion she wasn’t sure.

Walking through town in the din of dusk made Ujana aware of the deep rooted spirituality represented in Tale. So many passersby were gathering their children and placing talismans on their doors, as if the spirits of the dead would sneak inside on this night alone. It was a holiday, that much she knew, but which one? There were just too many to keep track of.

Pulling her shawl up higher on her shoulders, Ujana stepped to walk under an archway -

-and felt a soft plop on her shoulder. All at one she looked over, saw a pair of golden eyes staring into her own and the next thing she knew she was shrieking. The brute jumped back away from the shape, tripped over a stone in the pavement and fell straight onto her rump.

A great flood of laughing erupted around her. Confused and with her heart still racing, Ujana looked up to see several young teens leaning over the arch. One near the edge was holding a stick with a piece of dangling rope that was….attached to a stuffed keldari.
“Got’cha!”

“Wow, you were right! She wasn’t even looking! Good one, Tobirus.”

Two of the boys exchanged high fives as Ujana’s brain tried to process it all. They tricked her? She’d been tricked by preteen boys?!

Balling her hands into fists, the warrior rocked up onto her feet and shouted up at the boys, “What the hell are you doing?! If I’d been any older my heart could have stopped!”

“You look pretty old to us grandma.” One of the boys snickered, much to the delight of his friends. The one dangling the keldari dropped it once more, dancing it teasinglingly in front of her face before pulling it back up with a great laugh.

“You’d best just ignore them,” Came a voice from behind her. When Ujana turned a young mother approached her, a toddler balanced neatly on her hip. “It happens every year. They think they’re so clever and anyone who isn’t careful gets pranked. Last year it was my poor Yuval. They put soup in his boots.”

“Soup?”

“At least it was cold this time.”

She just shook her head and went about her business leaving a fuming Ujana to deal with the kids. By the time she looked up they were already gone, disappeared somewhere into the darkness, but she knew this was far from over! She’d get them back if it was the last thing she did!

[775]