Krymzyn (The Journals of Krymzyn Book 1) by BC Powell Read Free Book Online

remember me from when you here before, when we were smaller,” she says as a statement of fact.
    “Yes,” I reply. “It’s strange. I remember everything about being here. I’m Chase, by the way.”
    “I know who you are.”
    I start to walk towards her but wince from pain. Sash immediately steps to me.
    “Are you able to walk?” she asks.
    “Yeah, I’m okay ,” I answer.
    “We’ll go to my habitat,” she says. “I can heal your wounds, and you may rest there.”
    Side by side, we slowly stroll deeper into the valley.
    “Do you live with your family ?” I ask.
    “ Family ?” she questions.
    “Your mother and father ,” I say before I remember how “parents” never translated when I was younger. Apparently “mother” and “father” have no meaning here either.
    “I don’t understand,” she replies.
    “Who gave birth to you?”
    “A woman who was chosen to carry me.”
    “How was she chosen?” My curiosity is soaring.
    “After Darkness passes,” Sash replies, “if a new child is needed in Krymzyn, one man and one woman are given the sign of fertility. They know of their choice by amber sparkles in their veins and golden light in the fertility hair that grows on our bodies. It’s a great honor to be chosen.”
    “Your parents —sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “The man and woman who make you are just chosen randomly?” I understand now that any word that hangs in the air for a long time never translates, so I can quickly correct myself.
    “Nothing is random,” Sash answers. “They’re chosen because they have something inside them worthy of being passed on. As soon as they’ve been given the sign, the two meet at the Cavern of Grace and engage in the Ritual of Balance. The woman then carries the child until birth, her only purpose while she’s pregnant to protect the child growing inside her. After she gives birth, she nurtures the child through the seventy periods of Darkness that follow.”
    “What happens to the baby after that?” I ask.
    “The child is then presented to the Keepers at the Naming Ritual. The Keepers sustain and educate the child in the ways of Krymzyn until the height of purpose is reached. While the Keepers attend to the needs and education of the children, all of Krymzyn is responsible for their upbringing.”
    “You don’t know the woman who gave birth to you?”
    “It’s not necessary to know who she is,” Sash replies.
    “Or the man who . . .” I have to pause to try and figure out a word that will translate since I know “father” won’t, but Sash answers before I come up with one.
    “The man who provides the seed for growth,” she says. “Again, there’s no need to know who he is.”
    This time, I bite my tongue to hold in my response, one I’m certain she wouldn’t appreciate.
    “So what happens when the child reaches the height of purpose?” I ask.
    “The child is taken to the Tree of Vision for the Ritual of Purpose. Once the sap of that Tree is consumed, color is given to our hair and our purpose revealed through that color. The child then becomes an Apprentice in the ways of their purpose. My hair streaked with scarlet, the color of a Hunter, and I served as an Apprentice with a Mentor named Yoni. While an Apprentice, I dwelled with the Keepers and other children. When Yoni met his death, I ended my Apprenticeship. I was given my own habitat, and now I serve my purpose to Krymzyn.”
    “Who were the green-haired people?”
    “Watchers,” she replies. “They protect the walls around the Delta. The youngest of the three, Balt, is an Apprentice.”
    “So you live your whole life alone after you leave the Keepers?” I ask.
    “All of Krymzyn exists as one, but each dwells in solitude.”
    “So what if someone’s never chosen for the Ritual of Balance?”
    “Then their purpose is fulfilled until the height of death is reached. Hunters are never chosen because we need rest after Darkness and must always be available when