The Footsteps of Cain

by Derek Kohlhagen

  Days of Joining.

  Words of reproach hit the back of Ejelano’s tongue, but before he gave them flight he cut them off. Every time Ejelano brought it up...every time he’d warned his friend against such a liberal use of the fermented libation...it had led to an argument. No matter how dismayed he was that Shaleer would saturate himself so on such an important day, Ejelano didn’t wish to do anything to encourage a sour turn of fate. He was determined not to let anything interfere with the occasion, his occasion, no matter how deep his disappointment ran.

  “I...I won’t be attending the hunt,” Shaleer said, haltingly. He was having trouble looking Ejelano in the eyes. “I’ve come to tell you that...I cannot accompany you today.”

  On top of his initial dismay, Ejelano was now dumb-founded. Shaleer’s inebriation was merely an irritation; even as grating as it was, it could be overlooked. But what his life-brother had just told him? It was a blatant slap in the face.

  “What?” he blurted. “You are joking. You must be. Only a joker would speak about abandoning his life-brother the morning of his Joining hunt. Shaleer, tell me that this day you are a joker.”

  “No, brother, sadly I cannot say that and be truthful. I am sorry, but you must go without me.”

  Ejelano felt his anger rising over his shock. “What can you be doing that is so important that you would miss the hunt? Do you care so little for me that you would so carelessly cripple our friendship? I need you there, beside me, brother.”

  “I have a different task to fulfill today. It will need my attention here, in the village. I promise you, Ejelano, that I have not forgotten about what this day means to you. When you return from the hunt, no doubt with a plentiful bounty for the feast, you will see what I mean. I really cannot offer you any more than that.”

  “The forest help me, I cannot think of any task you would have to complete that is more important than fulfilling your duties as a life-brother.” Hurt had now paired itself to Ejelano’s anger. It hit him in the gut and curled up there.

  “I hope that you can believe that I would not make such an affront to you without having a great cause to do so,” Shaleer implored. He held out a hand to Ejelano. “Take my hand and know that when you return, you will know everything. Place your trust in me as you have before.”

  Ejelano looked at Shaleer’s outstretched hand, hesitant. He wanted to continue to convince Shaleer to come with him regardless, but was torn by Shaleer’s appeal.

  Surely, Shaleer, if anyone is to be making concessions on this day, of all days, it should be you.

  They’d come up together, as younglings. Amazingly, they’d even been born on the same day, something their mothers and fathers had come to regard as an omen that they would become great life-brothers, which in time had proved true.

  Although the time of their births had been nearly identical, their families could not have been more different. While Ejelano had been born into a full house of love and tenderness, Shaleer had been unlucky enough to be the only child of cold and scornful parents, who found fault with every effort, and failure in every success. Yet, despite their different upbringings, they had bonded famously, indeed, and passed through every rite and passage into manhood together.

  Ejelano thought back to one such ritual they’d endured, one that all sons in the tribe underwent once they reached their twelfth season. As a final test before a boy could be called a man, he was sent out into the forest to hunt, alone, and was not allowed back in to the village until he’d killed and cleaned a suitable animal to offer the bellies of his people. Although seemingly harsh, it was also necessary. They were hunters, and had to ensure that there were no weaknesses in their ranks.

  Besides, by the time a boy underwent the final trial, he’d already trained for years under a master. Every child that was sent out into the forest was destined to succeed. The ritual was almost a formality, rather than any actual test of skill.

  Ejelano had passed his trial without incident, naturally, and had brought back a great stag only a single day after he had left the boundaries of the village. This had earned him great favor in the eyes of his people; no youngling had ever claimed so great a beast in so short a time.

  When it was Shaleer’s turn, however, he was gone for many days. With growing concern, Ejelano had sneaked away, only to find his life-brother cowering at the base of a tree, desperately hungry, weeping and professing that he had failed, already mourning his exile from the village. Ejelano had taken pity on him, and, setting off into the forest, killed a doe for him. Shaleer took the deer, and returned to his people having seemingly passed his trial. Neither Shaleer or Ejelano ever told a soul what had actually happened that day in the forest, and Ejelano never insulted Shaleer by speaking to him of it again. Ejelano did this because he would do anything for his life-brother.

  He knew, even now, he would do anything for him. Even this.

  Ejelano reached out and clasped his friend’s hand.

  “I will submit to your judgment, friend,” he said. “We remain life-brothers, still.”

  “Of course, Ejelano. May the forest bless your hunt. Return when you are finished. I will be here waiting for you.”

  Ejelano took his friend’s shoulder with his other hand, and squeezed it. Then, with a last meaningful look that displayed disappointment he couldn’t completely hide, he turned and strode off toward the hunting party.

  There was something beyond the disappointment, something he felt that inched more into the realm of uneasiness. As he left, he had a hard time pinpointing the source of the oily discontent.

  Only later would he remember the odd look on Shaleer’s face, lurking below the surface of his friend’s disarming smile. Ejelano would think of his choice to walk away, even when every fiber of him insisted that he stay and question Shaleer’s strange behavior. Only later, after everything was over, would he realize the gravity of that simple decision, and how it was the trigger that sent everything spiraling out of control.

  Afterward, after everything was over, he would think of it for a very long time.

  * * *

  Chapter 23 – Shaleer

  As Shaleer watched his life-brother go, the good nature faded from his eyes, and something cold and unfeeling took up residence there. After he was sure that Ejelano was out of sight, he also walked off...in the opposite direction. Shaleer made his way to Ejelano’s home, pulled aside the leather canvas that served as a door, and entered. He looked around the inside of Ejelano’s simple house, and with a sneer noted the decorations that had been hung to celebrate his Joining. Leaves from the forest had been gathered, and woven together to create great sheets of green, gold and brown to adorn the walls. It was a house that stood on the brink of maturity, like a young tree ready to drop its first seeds to the fertile ground.

  And yet, standing in the center of all this joy and potential, Shaleer absorbed none of it. The coldness in his eyes had come from somewhere deep within him, where there had been no warmth for a very long time.

  Yes, I will be here when you return, brother.

  Sitting down on the bed, he faced the doorway, and waited.

  * * *

  Chapter 24 – Ejelano

  The hunt had gone even better than he’d hoped. Ejelano had found the tracks easily, and liberally thanked the forest for his good luck. The hunting party had arranged themselves in a V, with him at the point, so if he were to lose the trail they would pick it up behind him and they could correct their course as one, like a single organism. Of course, Ejelano didn’t lose the trail. He never lost a trail. Once his senses were attuned to his prey, nothing could escape him.

  Ejelano approached the mortally wounded boar. His spear had pierced the animal’s heart in a stunning display of accuracy, and he had brought it down before it had a chance to take even a single step. All at once his knife was in his hand, and he knelt over the boar, placing his hand on its heaving rib-cage. He spoke soothingly to it, and its panicked spasms lessened somewhat. The pain of th
e creature was foremost on Ejelano’s mind, and he would not allow it to persist any longer than was necessary. To do so would be an insult to the mighty animal, and to the forest itself. In a deft, lightning-quick motion he drew his knife across the boar’s throat, and watched as its lifeblood spilled like a fountain, mingling in with the dirt and the leaves. He continued to stroke the boar’s side, offering his gratitude for its noble sacrifice.

  Your destiny is complete, my friend. Know that we are forever grateful for what you now give. Rest now; I will see you in the Beyond.

  The boar gave a final spasm, and was still.

  He heard a whooping behind him, and he turned to see his hunting party emerging from the brush and the trees. They had seen him take his kill, and rejoiced in his triumph. He smiled and rose to his feet, and his voice merged with theirs as they all sang of his victory with their arms raised to the leaves. Ejelano gave a final bellow, and they all fell silent.

  A diminutive member of the party stepped forward. “Once again, Ejelano, you show us what it means to be truly silent through the brush, and master of the spear!” he said. His name was Dwelo, and he was young, having just recently proven himself with his own first kill, a moon ago. Uncharacteristically confident for his age, he was one of Ejelano’s many former students, and had spent many seasons hunting and learning with him. It was no dishonor to Dwelo’s father that he had sent his boy to train with Ejelano, rather than teaching the boy himself...in fact, it was quite the opposite. Only younglings showing the most promise were brought under Ejelano’s wing, where their raw talent was hammered into a honed edge.

  “And once again, Dwelo,” Ejelano replied, amused, “you show me that it is possible that a youngling can be as eloquent as a man twice his age. But, then, you are no longer a youngling, are you? Today you seem...bigger, I think.”

  Dwelo’s chest swelled with pleasure at the praise. “And one day, the biggest!” he boasted. Ejelano let out an explosive laugh.

  “Both eloquent and prideful, it would seem. I fear you’ve been learning from me too well.”

  “Truly a fine throw, Ejelano,” another voice said. The man was older, around Ejelano’s age and every bit as physically formidable. “The feast for your Joining will go well into the night with a kill such as this. Know, though, that I was about to let loose my spear as well. It’s a good thing you were there, else the claim would be mine.”

  “It is a good thing that today I was faster, Olhando,” Ejelano said, meeting his gaze. His tone was light, but there was an undercurrent of competition that both men felt. Olhando was Ejelano’s primary rival for the next Cycle of leadership, and although they were certainly civil to one another publicly, both knew what was at stake. Olhando’s fiery ambition was both his greatest strength and most damning weakness. It drove him to master all endeavors, and was certainly the reason that he was such a gifted hunter and warrior.

  Alternatively, in Ejelano’s opinion, Olhando’s drive could also make him cold and inward-thinking. He privately felt that Olhando could lose sight, all too often, of the important rule that every personal achievement must also be an achievement for the entire village, not merely a badge that could be hung around the neck of a single man for his own self-satisfaction.

  “Indeed, a good thing,” Olhando went on. “Now are you going to clean that boar, or are we to stand here in the brush all day long? My belly roars just at the sight of that magnificent animal.”

  “I’ll need a few moment’s worth of patience more, Olhando. My knife will be quick, and then we will be on our way.”

  “May I carry the kill with you back to the village?” Dwelo asked, his eyes beaming.

  “Sadly, Dwelo, no,” Ejelano responded. “Today I believe I will be selfish and take that honor all for myself.”

  At this, Dwelo’s face fell. Ejelano let the moment percolate before he smirked.

  “I will, however, need someone to carry my spear.”

  A broad smile bloomed on the young hunter’s face.

  * * *

  Chapter 25 – Lena

  I will wait for you, my love.

  Lena all but skipped down the path toward the village, her steps light, her spirit lighter. She felt just a single surrender away from giggling aloud, but she knew that if she let herself, she wouldn’t be able to quiet herself again. The women had told her that she was to remain completely silent during her walk back to Ejelano’s house, so as not to offend the forest. They’d told her that the act of being Joined to another was a respectful and solemn event, and that she did not need to invite any ill will from the trees.

  They obviously have forgotten what it feels like to be Joined, then. Trees or not, I’m feeling anything but solemn! Those cronies wouldn’t know merriment if it struck them right in their warty faces!

  She couldn’t help it. At the thought of their scowling, “warty” faces, Lena let loose a bout of laughter that came right from her belly. She laughed loud and long, so much so that her eyes welled up with tears, and she had to wipe them away before they ran and ruined the ceremonial paste on her face. She laughed until it was painful to do so, and she finally was forced to calm herself down.

  Catching her breath, she looked around, at the trees.

  Well, it appears as though the forest has given me a reprieve this time.

  She blew a kiss to the boughs, and a final giggle escaped her.

  She continued on her way, rolling her eyes disdainfully as her ceremonial dress rustled and flapped annoyingly against her legs with each footstep. Between the huge leaves that were looped into her belt, and the gaudy flower headdress that she was forced to wear, she felt like a perfect fool. She knew that what she was wearing didn’t matter at all to her love, and she knew that he shared her bewilderment of why either of them should care what the rest of the people expected of them on this day, their happiest of days. If she’d had her way, she’d have gone hunting with the men. She was really quite good with a spear; Ejelano had shown her some skills, which of course bordered on sacrilege because she was a woman, but she had ended up surprising him with the potential she showed. She’d love to shock those men out of their skins by dragging a deer into the village one day, a deer she had killed with her own spear. She’d throw it right at the feet of the elders, smirk, and walk away, just to see their mouths agape in astonishment. What a sweet moment that would be.

  Lena, the First Huntress. That’s what they would call her. Wouldn’t Ejelano be proud!

  She sighed, suddenly wistful.

  Oh, Ejelano. How long have we waited for this, my love?

  The day before her had been many years in the making. They had known each other as younglings. She still remembered when they’d met, how he had looked at her so scornfully when she’d asked if he wanted to climb trees with her in the forest. He hadn’t wanted to appear “weak” by playing with a girl, she knew, so she’d provoked him by challenging his bravery. It was a cunning trap; he would have appeared weak if he’d played with her, but he’d have appeared weaker if he didn’t meet her challenge and climb at least one tree, for losing a challenge to a girl would have been a fate worse than death, to a boy his age. So, he’d followed her into the forest begrudgingly, and climbed a tree with her, all the while spouting off about how pointless and stupid it was to climb with a girl. Her intuition, however, told her that he hadn’t meant a word of it, and was just saying what his friends would want to avoid their ridicule.

  By the time they had ascended to the highest boughs, she’d seen the edges of his mouth fighting a smile. They’d spent the whole day climbing tree after tree, until the sun fell and they could hear their mothers calling for them. Before they’d returned, she had asked him if he would like to climb more the next day.

  “Yes,” he’d said. “I am brave enough.”

  And tonight, I’ll be Joined with that once so-scornful boy.

  She’d known that she loved him, even as they sat in those trees all those years ago. They had grown older, and she had seen h
im become the man he was destined to be, the one she’d predicted he would, and her pride nearly leaped out of her chest for him.

  She absentmindedly placed a hand on her belly, feeling her potential for life beyond her own. She would bear him many sons and daughters, each one a little version of themselves. One day they would be climbing the trees that she and Ejelano had climbed, conquering the forest as they had, all those years ago.

  The trees thinned, and in the distance she saw the first dwellings of the village coming into view. Tradition stated that after being prepared for her Joining by the women, she was to go to her husband’s house and wait for him to return from his morning hunt. As derisive as she was of many of the archaic traditions of her people, this was one that she gladly embraced, if only because it delivered her into her new home, the only place she truly wanted to be. Perhaps she would tidy it up a bit, and put up some of her own adornments on the walls to make Ejelano’s return even more festive. She doubted that he’d put up even a single decoration. He always missed the point of such things, but then he was a only a man, after all.

  She was inside the borders of the village, now, and not far from Ejelano’s home. She could see that there were far fewer people milling about in the open than usual, due to the men’s hunt that morning. Most of the women would be inside, preparing for the festivities that would come after the sun fell. She could hear the younglings scampering about, though, and the noise brought a joyful smile to her lips. She loved to hear them play; it was her very favorite sound.

  A moment later she was outside the flap of his door. All her excitement and happiness rose to a crescendo. She raised her voice in a wordless song, and literally danced through the portal into Ejelano’s house.

  Immediately she sensed something was wrong. The song died on her lips, and she froze. Then she saw him, sitting calmly on the bed, leaning his elbows on his knees.