“Is it really necessary for me to drink it?” I say sceptically, being presented a suspicious concoction by Chieftain Yuras. I am deadly tired, sore and moody after coming down from drinking the Potion of Crity. Turns out that the after-effects of that bsted tincture are even more atrocious than I expected – I spent the entire night vomiting and convulsing in pain, ruining the time I had with my lovers. Even now I can feel my stomach being so messed up, I could not force myself to swallow even one bite – so I’m also starved; and to top it all off – my head still hurts!

  “Hmm… You do seem awfully vitriolic already” says the herculean Krolsun, sagely rubbing his chin and thinking; he finally sps his thigh. “Very well, we can begin the training then!”

  “What training?” I groan. “Is it really necessary now? And aren’t you busy as a Chieftain?”

  “Well, we don’t have that much time, true” he shrugs with a familiar grin, currently more annoying than anything to me. “But I want to do everything properly… and there aren’t many others I would trust to safely stop you just in case!” I blush, remembering our sparring and my outburst during the Council; he’s correct. “Now!” He cps his hands. “How to unearth your fury… if I’m not mistaken, even a mere mention of Demons…” I don’t stop myself from growling and let my Aura fre, cutting him off – and it makes his smirk even wider! “Perfect! You can already easily bring forth such power – now you only need to learn how to control and utilise it!”

  “Control and utilise?! How do you pn…”

  “Demons” the RAGE inadvertently flows through me. “Yes! Focus on that emotion! Focus it on your need and desire to protect your close ones – your family, your friends… and yourself!”

  “HOW!?” I spat out. “YOU AREN’T…!”

  “Demons” he repeats. “Focus and try to focus your fury inside you, instead of radiating it outside!”

  “YOU AREN’T HELPING!”

  “Focus it in your heart and spread it out from there, spread it through your veins and arteries, along your spine and every nerve of your body” his answer is still too esoteric and vague for me.

  “I CAN’T!” I shout, frustrated and agitated, but the energy soon leaves me. “I can’t; what do you…!” A sudden wave of concentrated killing intent and fury hits me, sending me reeling from the shock.

  “See? That’s what you are supposed to do” booms the buff Rabbitman, sending shivers of fear down my spine. “I know you can do it; in fact, you’ve already done it by sheer instinct! And more than once to boot!” I shiver under the pressure of his Aura, but… his words spark a recollection in my mind.

  “Our fight!” I excim in a moment of enlightenment. “And that time at the gathering… the bear too!” As, my etion at the understanding is short-lived. “But how… how do I do it?”

  “With practice – as it is merely the first step, as one that can be often omitted” he bursts into ughter and drops his Aura. “That’s why I wanted to give you the Red Mist Potion, but seeing how moody you were” he shrugs. “Well, it seems I was mistaken” I gnce to the side – at the wooden bowl filled with red liquid – and sigh, then point at it.

  “So… what can I expect from drinking it?” I want to be finished with this whole training as soon as possible and it seems I have no choice but to drink the potion… which I cannot muster any enthusiasm for after the st time. “I want to know all the effects, side-effects and after-effects of it.”

  “You get filled with Great Mother’s fury… you shouldn’t eat meat and you absolutely can’t drink any alcohol. That includes other potions” my ears perk up.

  “Do all the potions contain alcohol?” I ask, as I couldn’t taste any in that accursed potion I naively drank yesterday.

  “Many do, but Potions of Crity and Red Mist don’t” says Yuras. “The tter, for your information, contains Bloody Caps and Stoneblood – that’s why alcohol can be deadly with it and meat will make you puke again… I’ll have to teach you how to prepare it yourself ter.”

  “Why?” I ask with a tilted head.

  “Every Kolokon, soon after becoming an adult, is supposed to learn how to defend the Tribe; and the rage is a blessing from the First Huntress to her favourite children” he rolls his eyes. “At least that’s how it is for Kolokon children; for the likes of us – those who joined the tribe as adults – we should learn this technique as soon as possible.”

  “Wait – does that mean…!?”

  “Not exactly; you still need to choose a cn to be fully accepted, but… since there will be changes and plenty of them will merge” he shrugs. “Now’s not the time for this; still, even the most stubborn of the Elders agreed that teaching you how to harness the power of your Rage is better done before we set out on the Great Hunt” his tone gets serious – even his usual smirk disappears. “That means we are expecting great things from you, Kora; it usually takes up to a month to learn this skill” he sighs deeply, with a hint of irritation in his voice. “Honestly, when I heard that Volnika gave you the Potion of Crity, which ordinarily would make you indisposed for the entire day today, I…”

  “If it is so difficult – yet important – to learn, then why did you allow me to basically take a day off?” I cut him off. He looks me straight in the eyes and stares at me in silence.

  “You’ve already forgotten how strong your yesterday headache was, haven’t you?” He deadpans. We stay quiet for a moment and, my face slowly turning hot. He is – without a doubt – right and my embarrassment is immeasurable. At some point I just cannot take it anymore and look I away, prompting a hearty ughter from the old Kin.

  “So… what exactly will happen to me when I drink this Red Mist” I ask, desperately trying to change the topic. “And I want to know all the effects before I drink it!”

  “Well… you will rage probably until midday, you will see a red hue – or mist – and your muscles will be sore afterwards” expins the Chieftain. “That’s assuming you drink only the bowl I prepared and you don’t have any unknown health issue that would suddenly pop up” my ears perk up at the st point.

  “Does something like that happen often?”

  “Thank Goddess – no, and I’ve yet to see someone dying from just drinking the Red Mist… although I’ve seen two Kin die when they drank alcohol soon after” he shakes his head sadly and strangely aggressively. “Some people are just convinced they know everything better and that they don’t need to listen to their elders’ wisdom” he adds more quietly, his voice clearly coloured by disappointment and frustration. “You know what, Kora?” He suddenly addresses me directly. “I will also take a few sips with you; you are correct to be vary after being fed the Potion of Crity without informing you how terrible of an experience drinking that shit is!”

  “So… I just have to avoid eating meat or drinking alcohol, right?” I say, reluctantly agreeing to his pn. “I don’t need to drink the whole bowl for it to take effects, do I?”

  “A few sips should be enough” he nods, takes the bowl and follows through with his pn; when he finishes, the level of the red liquid is visibly lowered. The Krolsun has his eyelids closed as he takes a slow, deep breath – then looks at me and I notice his eyes got a slight red glow to them. “As you can see” he presents the Potion to me. “It is safe.”

  I take the simple, wooden container in both of my hands and look into the sparkly, red liquid in it. I can see my own visage in it – and while it is distorted a bit – I can still clearly see the reluctance on my face. I take a deep breath and steel my resolve: what’s the worst that can happen, anyway? Yuras the Boulder is clearly still himself, so at least it should not be toxic.

  I take a whiff of the Red Mist Potion: it smells of mushrooms and iron, with a tinge of intoxicating sweetness; a really bizarre mix. This aroma is, to my surprise, both intriguing and enticing me. I hesitate no longer and swiftly raise the mixture to my lips.

  (Yuras POV)

  The old Rabbitman cannot help but smile with nostalgia, watching this young girl tip-toe around drinking the Red Mist, as the memories of his own first time with it come back to him. Being raised in a very traditionally Zheryman environment, he was wary like her too – if not even more. He still remembered many old stories of the “cruelty of those raging Savages” and how they eat their enemies in their Godless fury; even “The Tale of Four Siblings” made Kolokons to be cursed to suffer “an animalistic moods” for their transgressions. He had always found those opinions hypocritical – after all, weren’t the Gods themselves often filled with temper in their stories? Wasn’t it in their nature to throw a righteous fit? Weren’t the Warrior-monks of Zoraya channelling their Goddess’ fury? Why was what Kolokons were doing “bad”?

  And then he himself drank the Red Mist – it was such a long time ago, too, fifty… no, sixty, years ago – and everything became clear. When the Rage filled his very being and coloured everything red, he understood: it is liberating. To Rage is to be freed from the shackles and hypocrisies of civilisation; it is to be one with the World, as the Gods intended; it is how the Kin were always meant to be.

  That was what he was looking for his entire life.

  That was what those blinded and crippled by their cushy sedentary lifestyle and modern comforts were missing.

  That was he was missing.

  And now, it was his task to spread this joy, this freedom to the others – like the young Godling before him. But… something wasn’t right. She suddenly froze, dropping the bowl when she drank her share; some of the Red Mist was spilled – so it’s not that she swallowed too much of it. And yet…

  “K-Kora…!?” He started – but a deafening roar and a wave of truly zavsietan heat cut him off. He watched in horror – but a fascination as well – as the young huntress transformed; her eyes and even fur erupting into a violent fsh of orange light; her fur and hair standing up; her Aura became unbearably hot and overwhelming; but most frightening was a fming halo, materialized behind her head - head that snapped to the North... directly towards where the Shambling Ones were. And as he was about to call her again - she derted ther, with an unbelivable speed.

  It was at this moment he realised… he had fucked up.

  HoraceH.Horney