Birth of the Chosen One

by Roger Kenworthy

  “Let’s help the spirits remember us, and to act kindly towards us while we are singing and sacrificing when the sun wakes.”

  “I’ll help arrange it brave one. Now, sleep well, keep your family warm and next to you this dark evening.”

  Father hugged us as he wrapped the warm furs up to our chins. I slowly left the lands of our family and dreamt of being a great hunter. My dream ended abruptly.

  I awoke to screaming and thundering waters; my eyes couldn’t focus on a soul; the cave was black; the fire pits extinguished by the waters that swept through our home. I was separated from father and mother as I whirled around and around, bouncing off lifeless bodies and sharp rocks. My mouth opened, and water rushed in; I started to choke. The spinning continued as the cries for help grew louder. My ears hurt from the anguished cries of those who still lived. The sounds of crushed bones sent fear up my spine …the spirits had unleashed their fury upon us.

  I fought for my life. The evil floodwaters spit me out; I rolled down the hill, my body ached…but I survived. The furs that kept me warm had been stolen by the malicious waters…I was naked, shivering in the cold. My mind was overcome by grief; where was my sister and brothers? Father? Mother? Tears flowed, mixed with the cold rain that continued to lash our lands.

  A welcoming voice penetrated the darkness. “Ovark…you’re safe. Stay here, I’ll search for your mother, Ava, Keagan, and Toska.”

  As I waited for father to return…my swollen eyes beheld the only joy that I would experience on that sad day. “Grandfather Tosak, you are here with me.” I rushed to him and held him tight. I pinched his stubby fingers to be sure it was him.

  His emaciated arms encircled me; his love swept over me as more tears flowed to the damp earth below my feet.

  Father had lived, and my siblings too. The darkness did not surrender mother. The rains had stopped; they had cleansed the lands of the evil that existed within our cave...In the morning sun we huddled together, cold and wet; shocked by what the spirits had brought down upon us. We looked everywhere for our loved ones…there were dead bodies strewn over the lands; many of us had been taken by the malevolent waters that had rushed through our home.

  When the sun was high above our heads and our shadows short, we found mother…her body broken and battered by the waters. Father kneeled at her side, removed the debris that had taken her, and then brushed her matted hair back from her face. We cried, hugged her; we didn’t want to let her go. I reached out and touched her…she was so cold. With her blood on my hands, I dropped her lifeless arm, and hung my head…the tears flowed down my cheeks and upon the ground.

  “Children, your mother has travelled to the lands of the spirits; we must go on without her. She has left this life to be where she will meet her mother and father, her brothers, and her sisters. Each of us shall meet her…” Father was interrupted by an urgent cry of despair.

  “Tusik, come quick!”

  “Stay here children. I’ll be back soon.”

  The hunters appeared frightened as they looked upon the body of our Seeress. She has been a victim of the flood waters.

  “Look, Dona has been taken by the spirits …this is a bad omen; we must leave our home, and now before the spirits send more hurt and sorrow upon us.”

  “Aon, Leor, Fona…all taken for their words against the spirits!”

  “I see that they have given their lives. We cannot ignore this sign, or more of us shall die. It’s time and there’s no discussion for what we should or shouldn’t do this time.”

  Father spoke to a few of the surviving hunters; they decided that we should bury our dead immediately and then leave our cave, never to return to face the evil of that evening.

  As we stood silently amongst the dead, we could see the remnants of our home were scattered about; spears, awls, furs, carved animals…as if a giant hand grabbed up everything and just threw it all to the winds. Still, we had to prepare our dead for the next world, the unseen lands that our ancestors lived within.

  “Children, elders; collect what you can to place with our loved ones as signs that we’ll never forget them. Give them tools to do their labor in the spirit world. Give them food to nourish them as they carry-on their chores. Give them spears to hunt the beasts. Go!”

  While the young and the old searched for appropriate offerings to give our loved ones, the strong members of our clan worked furiously to dig shallow graves for those who had perished, those who had been taken as an example of disrespect for the spirits.

  The graves were finished, and then each body was lowered to their final resting place within the lands. Carved beasts joined the children in play; and spears united the men hunting beasts. Flowers accompanied the women; sacred symbols, mysterious totems from the spirits. I was fixated upon the delicate structure of the yellow flower held in my tiny hand; I did not want to release it from my tight grasp. My heart felt lighter while holding onto this gift; the beautiful petals, the curved leaves. It occurred to me that mother’s gentle nature had manifested as nature’s beauty…a sweet fragrance accompanied by warm memories.

  As Bundan and father placed mother in her grave, I glanced up and saw a wild looking figure approaching us. It was our shaman. Narizon had left our home before the rains started, but now he had returned to us, to support us, to send the dead off on their journey with dignity and their full rights for a proper burial.

  Our wise one was greeted by a teary-eyed father. “Narizon, welcome. Do you know what happened here last night?”

  “Tusik, there is no need to explain how many tears are shed or how many lives we have given to the sky, wind, and water spirits. They appeared as I slept, and silently whispered their plan to me. They wouldn’t let me leave and warn you; they said that the ones who disregarded their message had to pay for such insolence. I wept for my family, but was helpless to warn you. I’m saddened for our losses, but those who perished are with the spirits today. They shall live a happy life, a life with those who walk with the spirits this day. They are reunited with our glorious ancestors.”

  “Shaman, your words can appease the spirits. Please, explain of our sorrow for being disobedient children. We have learned our lesson, and have paid with the lives of the ones we loved and who loved us.”

  Narizon nodded and then proceeded to honor our taken family members. He set his staff down, cradled his drum in his left hand, and began to slowly and rhythmically beat it with his right hand. As the first sounds divided the remorse of the crying and whimpering from those who survived, all eyes looked intently upon their bedraggled savior. His closed eyes didn’t reveal his sorrow, rather, they stopped his tears. A mystical journey had begun.

  His drumming reverberated off the sad granite cliffs that surrounded our home. He began to gyrate wildly to his own rhythm; the pounding louder, the spinning faster. Matted hair chased after his body…his legs and arms pushed to keep up with the drum’s remorseful message. He dug his heels into the wet earth and stopped.

  “Spirits of our lands, skies, and waters; spirits of our ancestors; spirits of our newly departed…we honor each of you this day. Let our kind accept the gifts that you have given us to help us be wiser than what we are now; wiser for the future, and wiser when we reach the path that brings us to the Otherworld, the world that the benevolent spirits, our revered ancestors, and just taken family members walk this day and every day.”

  There was no dry wood or tusks to create the flames that would transform his mystical herbs and berries into gifts for the spirits. Instead, the shaman turned things around; he divided those sacred plants so that each of us could eat the gifts from the spirits.

  “Members of the Forest Clan, we surrender our loved ones’ bodies to the earth. As we do so, let us receive a sacred gift from the spirits as they spoke to us during a faceless moon. Let their wondrous generosity be a sign that they still look over us, and they shall do so until the sun and moon no longer travel across the skies above our heads. Let this gift remind you that the spir
its are our mothers and fathers and as such, we must be obedient children. When we are disobedient; we lose, we suffer, and we cry. The loss of our family members last night should be a reminder that we must travel the path that the spirits have for us, a path that can be long or short…we do not know, and we should not know.”

  Slowly, the shaman walked around those who survived the tragedy and handed each a small portion of dried herbs and berries. Narizon stopped and gazed intently into my eyes…there appeared to be unlimited life and compassion behind those black eyes. My eyes opened wide as two red berries that were passed to me to eat. I quickly jammed them in my mouth; they were sweet yet sour, rough but smooth…a contradiction of taste whirled around inside of my mouth. My dry lips were resurrected; the saliva ran down my chin as a torrent of heat ran through me…from head to toe. I shook my head. My eyes caught an unexpected movement; a shadowy figure stood next to me, touched my chin, and rubbed my hair.

  “Mother…?”

  “Yes, I am here Ovark, and I’ll always be at your side. I shall watch over you in the good and the bad times, the happy and sad times, and the dangerous and playful times. You’ll be the last member of the Forest Clan, the last of our kind. You’ll walk the lands many seasons and carry your father’s wisdom…and be a noble leader; you’ll display your grandfather’s courage…and be a brave hunter; and you’ll share your mother’s compassion...and be a loving father and mate. Have no fear. We shall be together again, but it shall be after many suns and moons have traveled the skies of the kind spirits. Go…live, and be the man that I am proud to call my son. I must leave now; it is time to follow the spirits to my new life.” She was gone.

  “Father…”

  “Ovark, I know; mother spoke with me too.”

  Father stood over mother’s grave, his strong hands holding us tight to his chest, and trying to hold back his tears after having just had the last visit from mother before she ascended to the spirit world. We hugged and cried tears of joy and sadness.

  As soon as the shaman ended his words, the family began to pick-up the tools and other artefacts that were undamaged by the violent waters.

  “Stop!” Narizon yelled out. “No! These goods are evil…leave them all, do not take any to our new home. Our past must remain as our past and not part of our present or future. This time…we must abide by the ways and the words of the spirits.”

  He continued. “Spirits of the lands, waters, and skies…may you lead us to a new home, a home that shall be a joyful, loving, and comforting as our last one. May we find a sanctuary from the beasts that wish us harm; the foul winds that carry snow and cold; and the hunters from other clans that want to enslave us. The Forest Clan asks for your wisdom and guidance to find a new home, a cave that shall be our home for many, many generations. Our new cave shall be one that venerates the spirits, and not one that denigrates the spirits.”

  More tears flowed than the punitive rains we faced during the previous night.

  “Now, the spirits have purged the clan; our family had been cleansed of those who scorned the wise ones. Our future shall be brighter than our past” … Narizon vowed these were the exact words spoken to him as he crossed the pathway to the other world.

  My hand was held tightly by father; we faced the dying sun and began the journey to find a new home. We had walked a fair distance from our cave, but I wanted one last treasure for my young memory. I looked back and saw a pack of grey wolves descend upon the graves of our family members. They began to dig wildly into the fresh earth. Clouds of dirt met the cruel winds that had carried the evil rains the night before. The beasts would feast on our remains...death meant life, life meant death. Painful tears poured out of my eyes.

  “Mother!” I wanted to save her from being torn to pieces…father stopped me.

  He cradled my melting cheeks in his rough hands. “Ovark, there’s no need to shed a waterfall of tears anymore, mother walks with us…she said so herself. She shall be with us forever if we speak her name. We shall feel her touch forever if we recall her love. We shall receive her kindness forever if we imagine her smile.”

  5

  Sadly, we turned our backs upon our past and faced our future. We walked for a handful of unhappy suns and a handful more of gloomy moons; each night we huddled together around a protective fire…the flames licked the winds and kept us safe as the wild beasts circled us just looking for a soul who was unaware of their presence. They kept their distance, but it was unnerving…opened jaws just waited for an opportunity to steal us in the night. If our eyes blinked, we could be stolen away to face death. It was a time of great dread for the elderly, women, and children; the hunters, not so. These were proud hunters and protectors of their kind. They stood guard at night to keep us safe, but without warm walls around our heads there was uncertainty, unease. Would the rains come again? Would the spirits take more of us as we slept?

  The birds announced that the sun would soon appear and push away the moon and the darkness. We could now see by the golden rays of sunlight the evil that had circled our fires during the night. Two handfuls of wolves, not content with just having devoured our dead, had followed us…they appeared to understand that we were easy prey for their kind.

  Father grabbed his spear and with two other hunters ran out to scare away the four-legged wickedness that had planned ill intent upon our family. The wolves just stayed out of range of our sharpened spear points…father threw his spear, but they scurried away behind some rocks or trees. These were wise beasts.

  “Let’s move, these wolves are becoming braver the longer we stay; this is the best time to leave here and make our way to our new home. Narizon, any sign from the spirits that we are approaching our new cave?” Father was getting impatient; he longed for us to have thick walls around us to protect us and offer warmth from the cold that ran over the lands like a herd of deer being chased by a pride of lions.

  “Tusik, the spirits have kept quiet…the winds in our faces make more noise than what they do. I shall return to the spirits when we rest. They shall give me the sign that we have found what we are looking for, but they shall know when to do so. We cannot force them to answer this question…we do not want to stir up their anger like a nest of angry hornets again. We know all too well what they are capable of if we act as children and demand what we want from them. They will not abandon us…they will answer us when they feel they should.”

  “Please, keep me informed of their decision as soon as you know what it is.”

  As the remnants of our clan drearily trudged through lands of cold winds and damp fog, I wondered if our smiles would return to our faces. Would we ever feel the warm rays of the sun on our backs? Would the hole in our hearts ever mend? Even though I was a child, adult thoughts of sadness and gloom pierced my body and mind…mother was gone. Yes, I would meet her again when it was my turn to leave these lands of ours, but it still hurt to think of her as lost to this world of ice and snow. No more laughter to share; no more severe words to hear; and no more love to receive in the middle of a cold night when the beasts outside of our cave howled for warm blood.

  Father stopped and spoke. “Ovark…I know the pain that you feel…it is my pain too. I now have you and your brothers and sister to care for; help them grow and make mother proud. I’m scared…even more so than when I face a fierce cave bear with sharp teeth and claws. He has a face, a body, something I can see and fight, something I can stick my spear into and kill …Sadness is faceless…you can’t touch sadness, but it touches you. It’s a spirit that has no shape…but it is here; it has no body…but, it is here. It is like the mist we are walking through now…it swirls around you and it chills your bones, but put your hands out to touch it and it is untouched.”

  As I walked, my outstretched shaking hand tried to grab the mist that had followed me...my hand was empty, but my bones shivered from the cold that was carried by the swirling demon.

  “You see…shapeless, but present; chilling, but not touched. Many suns fro
m now, we shall see the face of sadness behind us and the face of joy in front of us. Still, we must be brave, for each other, for mother…strong, for each other, strong for everyone when we make that sacred change. Try to smile Ovark, for me, mother, your brothers, and sister. One day, you shall lead all of us through many changes that shall be more frightening than the fog that rolls down from the hills and consumes us, hides us from the pathway of reason and logic.”

  I forced a smile; I was uncomfortable smiling after just losing mother to the Otherworld. It just was not right to feel joy after such a disaster had swept down upon our family, our clan.

  We tramped onward, heads down, restricted by howling winds. The morning was cold; the sky spirits showered their disappointment down upon us with a tumultuous rainstorm that later turned to pelting ice and blistering snow. The ice clung to our furs and made a high-pitched clacking noise as we took each step. Every beast within many moons travel must have heard the strange entourage making its way through their lands.

  We searched for a dry cave to sleep for the night; the spirits were kind to us as they led us to one that was small but able to shelter each of us during the time of the moon. Father and Bundan told us to wait outside until they knew it was safe to enter. These are homes to cave bears and mountain lions…both deadly fighters and brave hunters.

  Bundan reassured us as we shivered in the snow storm that clouded the skies and made everything around dark and gloomy. “Clan members, we’re safe …there’re no traces of any wild beasts living here for many suns and moons.”

  A collective sigh spread quickly amongst us …a dry home to rest our tired heads, away from the glaring eyes of predators and the icy winds that haunted us over the past few suns and moons. We entered the welcoming cave; there were a few peals of laughter as we settled down for a restful sleep. Buried in the dirt were many dried bones from the carcasses of deer and bison; these provided kindling for the fires that kept us warm during our stay there.