Lingon and the First Survivor

Lingon and the First Survivor (or First Survivor or LatFS) is a fantasy thriller novel by Page Allen and the first installment of the Zaun Ajma series. Set in a fictional world, it follows the evacuation of a Minsan logistics officer, Lingon Çamain, from the island of Wistania after the Flare infects millions of people with a neurological disease called redsight. Having superior strength and agility, the redsight ambush Lingon's battalion, and he is left alone to find his way home. On the way, he meets a young boy named Alaija who doesn't speak his language and also has redsight. They form an unlikely bond and travel together, all while Lingon uses a mysteriously powerful ajmastone to calm his anxieties. The novel was published in PDF format on February 22, 2022 on the website zaunajma.com.

History
The novel was conceived when Allen was a teenager. They wrote the first draft in the spring of 2015, then wrote two more drafts before dedicating a few years to conlanging and worldbuilding for the novel's universe. The final draft was completed on January 19, 2022, and its release date was announced via Twitter on January 25 along with the zaunajma.com website. After receiving initial feedback from a close friend, Allen polished and typeset the novel until the final day before publishing on February 22, 2022. The novel was shared on Twitter and the subreddit r/conlangs and received generally positive reviews by a handful of readers.

An EPUB version of the novel was released on June 13, 2022.

Plot
This sections includes plot details and spoilers of the novel.

The book is broken into 28 chapters split into four acts with a prologue and epilogue.

In the prologue, Maaya arrives in a secluded town, hands a locked box to an old friend, and asks him to keep it safe. She reveals that there is an ajmastone inside and that the Minsans are attempting to find them all.

The first act begins with Lingon evacuating Wistania with his battalion in possession of the locked box and speaking to Lt. Keun who tells him it may contain an ajmastone and requests that he deliver it to Lieutenant Matila once they arrive back in Minsa. His battalion is then suddenly ambushed by redsights, people who received a neurological disease from the destruction of a red ajmastone that caused the Flare. Lingon stays safe by hiding in a chest, and presumes himself the sole survivor. He contemplates suicide, but instead decides to keep the box and runs into the woods. There, he accidentally breaks open the box during a panic attack, sees the green glow of the ajmastone, and immediately feels calm. Shortly afterward, he is apprehended by a rogue Wistanian who identifies herself as Maaya and has a suspiciously good control over the Minsan language. She takes him to meet an old lady and her young son, Alaija, who wears a blindfold to suppress his redsight. Maaya asks if Lingon could guide Alaija to the nearby city of Dazal where he’d be safe, but Lingon refuses. The next day, Alaija’s mother dies and, after attempting to run away, Lingon changes his mind when he sees the boy mourn because it reminded Lingon of his own mother who died from suicide when he was nine. Maaya gives them supplies and teaches Lingon three Wistanian words to aid their communication.

In the second act, Alaija attempts to break the ice by teaching Lingon new Wistanian words and playing him music on his panflute, but Lingon struggles to understand his messages and has a number of panic attacks, prompting him to look back at his ajmastone to calm him. Lingon meets a Minsan envoy who tells him about a Post upstream; that night, the envoy has somehow contracted redsight and attacks them, forcing Lingon to kill him. The next day, Lingon hides Alaija and Ayu, a garamaug previously owned by the envoy, and goes to the Post where he meets Lt. Keun, who had also survived the redsight ambush. Alaija and Ayu are discovered, and Lt. Keun threatens to accuse Lingon of treason and kill Alaija, but they manage to escape into the jungle where he discovers that Alaija was grazed in the shoulder by a bullet. Overwhelmed by the prospect of being arrested, Alaija’s infected wound, and losing their food, Lingon continues to look at his ajmastone for comfort until the effects eventually seem to wear off and Lingon starts to hallucinate and act violently, culminating in an attempted murder-suicide that was foiled by Ayu. Once Lingon comes back to his senses, Alaija discovers Lingon’s ajmastone and demands that Lingon throw it in the river. When he finally does, he has a vision of his mother. She tells Lingon that she never got the change to tell him the truth, looks at Alaija, and concludes that Lingon figured it out anyway. After she disappears, Lingon and Alaija are again apprehended by the Minsans and taken to the city of Dazal which is already evacuated and being burned. Lt. Keun attempts to arrest him, but they escape through the fiery city and are eventually rescued by Wistanians, including Lim a close friend of Aliaja's.

In the third act, Lingon, Alaija, and Ayu are led to a refugee camp on top of a high plateau where they meet Maaya again, having quickly returned from an unsuccessful mission. She thanks Lingon for getting Alaija there safely and tells him to leave by dawn the next day. She assigns him a bodyguard, a young teacher named Zariya who speaks some Minsan. However, later that day, Maaya confronts Lingon about the ajmastone he used and discovers that he is a zaun ajma, and has the ability to see visions. She reveals that she is also a zaun ajma. A messenger arrives at the camp and reports that the redsights are being controlled by a zaun ajma named Wanara from a second red ajmastone, and that they are organizing to go to Minsa to find a third ajmastone being kept there. In another private meeting, Maaya explains that there are four red ajmastones, and if all four are destroyed, it could release the ajma trapped inside, and the consequences would be dire. So she asks Lingon to betray his nation and destroy the ships home before the redsights can board. Lingon is again overwhelmed by the decision, but Zariya and Alaija console him. That night, he has vision of Alaija with his eyes fully healed from the glow of some Minsan invention, so Lingon takes it as a sign that he can save Alaija.

In the fourth act, Lingon leaves the refugee camp, but asks Zariya to bring Alaija to the port to be healed. On his way, Lingon has another vision where he talks to his younger self before his mother died and discovers that his parents were trying to escape Minsa and possessed weapons and anti-imperial propaganda. After he arrives at the port, Lingon delays his arrest by describing the glowing item he saw in his vision as the object of the Wistanians’ desire. Lt. Keun recognizes it and show Lingon what he calls the “incandescent light bulb” and shows him how a flashlight works. Maaya and the Wistanians show up, and Lingon reveals that he is indeed a traitor and attempts to shoot and kill Lt. Keun, but is stopped by the redsights, being led by Wanara. Maaya fights the redsights and Minsans while Lingon fights off Lt. Keun who has been infected by redsight from Wanara. After he kills Lt. Keun, he finds Alaija, takes off his blindfold, and tries to show him the lightbulb, but the redsights interrupt and Alaija opens his eyes. He becomes extremely violent and attacks Lingon, Zariya, and Lim. After barely surviving, Maaya quickly takes him down and tells Lingon that the attempt to prevent the redsights from boarding a ship failed. The plan changes, and Lingon, Maaya, Alaija, and Lim fight past a line of redsights to board a cargo ship. Lingon, however, does not get all the way on. Instead, he denies that he belongs to Minsa and chooses to fall back into the water.

The epilogue opens with Wanara chained to a cave wall, communicating with redsights on the Minsan ship. He is met by a young man, another zaun ajma named Ggudi who reveals the fourth red ajmastone. He breaks the stone, releasing the third portion of the ajma so that the red ajmastone in Minsa is the only one left to break before the ajma can be freed.

Characters
The following are all the named characters who play a role in the novel, sorted by prevalence.


 * Lingon Çamain is the main protagonist. He's a 21-year-old logistics officer and poet who finds a mysterious locked box that contains an ajmastone. After his battalion is ambushed, he meets and build relationships with several Wistanians, primarily Alaija, and must re-examine his nation, culture, and true home.
 * Alaija is a supporting character who travels with Lingon for a majority of the novel. He is an 11-year-old Wistanian boy with redsight suppressed by a blindfold. He's very talkative, resourceful, and enjoys playing the panflute, even though he only knows a handful of songs.
 * Maaya is a supporting character. She is a young warrior and spy with a surprising command of the Minsan language. She introduces Lingon and Alaija and requests that Lingon take the boy to Dazal since she is already occupied with a larger mission.
 * Lt. Keun is an antagonist. He serves as Lingon's commanding officer and attempts to arrest Lingon for treason for travelling with and caring for Alaija, a Wistanian and a redsight.
 * Lim is a supporting character. They are a young archer and friend of Alaija's family. They're hired to keep guard over Alaija's house, but leaves to see their family for the first time after the Flare.
 * Zariya is a supporting character. She is a young language teacher who knows enough Minsan to communicate. She watches over Lingon while he is at the Dazal refugee camp and offers him advice and confort, which Lingon doesn't feel he deserves.
 * The Unnamed Sergeant is an antagonist. He assists Lt. Keun on his missions and apprehends Lingon, almost killing him and Alaija multiple times. He is never named, but is identified by having curly red hair.
 * Ayu is a supporting character and animal companion. She is a garamaug originally owned by Masset Loci, but later joins Lingon and Alaija after his death. She protects and comforts Alaija for the remainder of their journey.

Other named character who play smaller roles are:


 * Tsalo, Lingon's friend who dies in the redsight ambush.
 * Airama, Alaija's mother.
 * Masset Loci, an envoy that tells Lingon of a Minsan Post upriver and later is infected with redsight.
 * Naggi, an elderly woman and temporary leader of Dazal who offers Lingon and Alaija a place to spend the night at the refugee camp.
 * Jauzni, a Wistanian warrior who speaks some Minsan and guards Alaija while at the refugee camp.
 * Wanara, a zaun ajma with the ability to give people redsight and command them.
 * Inala, an elderly man and old friend of Maaya, entrusted with an ajamstone in the prologue.
 * Ggudi, a zaun ajma who confronts Wanara in the epilogue.

Themes
The novel primarily deals with imperialism, white guilt, and the white gaze, and is written to be a submersion of the white savior trope. The novel follows Lingon as he navigates culture shock and learns about the effects of the Minsan Invasion on the Wistanian people. Despite the main character being Minsan, the story still centers the Wistanian people and culture and presents a wide variety of personalities and worldviews among the Wistanians, unlike the Minsans who are largely presented as having similar personalities (Lingon excluded).

Some other themes present throughout include grief, mental health, and self-forgiveness.