by SC Huggins
The Matriarch felt her immortal heart stop beating. She clutched her hand to her chest, ignoring the sharp look of the Deji beside her and sought to breathe through the imaginable pain.
Dejis were immortals and pain remained a foreign emotion to them, at least before today. This day would go down in their history surely. The one reason they’d never felt pain was only because there had been no incident to induce the emotion, the Matriarch realized. And yet how else could she describe the feeling Yas’ statement planted in her heart? Even the unflappable Divina looked shocked and uncomfortable.
“Mitchia!” the Matriarch shouted in Yas’ direction. But she didn’t miss how the familiar words expressing her disgust at his abominable showing left him unfazed.
As grateful as she was to The Ancestral Mother for the gift of choice, her greatest mistake was that gift. Here was Yas misusing it.
If she were the creator, she would do everything as Mother had, but never gift her Dejis the choice and freedom to think and act as they wished. And her decision to withdraw her power of foreknowledge, to know and map out their future? If her power of foreknowledge had been active, the thought of rebellion wouldn’t even have crossed Yas’ mind, because she would have read his intentions and destroyed him for it.
Why have a gift such as foreknowledge and render it inactive?
And yet, the Matriarch always believed it to be the most beautiful thing after immortality the great creator blessed them with.
The Matriarch threw The Ancestral Mother a quick searching look, could she be regretting it now? Her expression remained blank, unreadable.
“You have stepped so far out of line that your destruction will be a blessing,” hissed the Utay Divina, the attendant to The Ancestral Mother.
The Matriarch studied the others, Divina’s words jolting her to the present and reminding her there were other Dejis involved, watching the events unfold with wary eyes. She knew real fear when she saw some Dejis looked absorbed by Yas’ argument. It made her angrier.
“This is as logical as your decision to select few mortals to become Dejis. Let us all take a step back, leave out Mother’s readiness to destroy her creations and analyze this,” Yas invited as he turned to his fellow Dejis. “Who will make a better ruler, someone so far above them, so all-powerful that they feel they are not worthy to speak to her, or someone powerful who was once like them, faced problems like theirs and understands them?” Yas spread his wings and faced The Ancestral Mother.
“If you love mortals as you say, this will be an easy decision to make.” He leaned forward, eyes and words burning with conviction, “Aren’t you curious to see how Uwan will fare under our ruler-ship?”
The Matriarch gasped in horror at this. She turned instinctively to The Ancestral Mother and bore witness to her first show of emotion- a black cloud of anger.
Perhaps, the Matriarch considered, Mother just realized Yas was serious about his bid to rule. For without the power of foreknowledge, Mother was just a Deji; powerful, but without knowledge of the true thoughts of her subjects.
The Matriarch lowered her eyes in shame, lest The Ancestral Mother see her thoughts. Mother little more than a Deji? Another bolt of shame hit the Matriarch. She raised her head with effort, just in time to watch uncomfortably as Mother visibly struggled to curb her disbelief and anger. Her eyes widened when Mother’s clenched fist trembled beneath the cloud shielding it from view. Only she could see clearly from her honored position close to her Mother.
The Matriarch shuddered in revulsion. This was Yas, who she had watched Mother study and prepare for immortal life. Who Mother had known as well as a creator can know her creation before withdrawing her power of foreknowledge and granting him the gift of choice as she had all of them, and he was challenging her right to rule? Based on what? His life he owed to the creator, or the power she had blessed him with?
The Matriarch held her breath as a thought struck her. Breathing in deep she sought to dispel it, but the thought refused to budge from the recesses of her mind. Might The Ancestral Mother think to destroy Yas? She watched tensely as Mother studied Yas hard, and so quickly she could have missed it if she hadn’t been attentive, Mother’s eyes flashed white and bright.
A reaction she had never seen before.
If Mother were to destroy Yas, who could question her?
Yas rose again. “It was never my intention to anger you,” he said. His voice flowed so smooth and contrite the Matriarch wondered if she alone noticed how unrepentant he sounded. With his smooth form and great wings, he like all Dejis was beautiful. But of what use was beauty without loyalty?
“Truly, I only gave rulership a fleeting thought,” he shrugged self-deprecatingly, “I—”
“It shouldn’t have come to your mind at all,” Divina said softly, “not if you were loyal at heart.”
And there it was, the stark truth. The Matriarch studied the Utay. Perhaps, she’d judged her too quickly?
“Isn’t that why we were given the gift of choice, to think as we will instead of being led?” Yas asked.
Has he always shown this level of disrespect to Mother or did it begin just now with his new quest?
“Like I said,” Yas smiled faintly, “until the Matriarch mention our predecessors in one of our conversations—”
“Do not pass blame. What I told you in trust isn’t enough for all this nonsense,” the Matriarch fumed.
“Mother, you are my creator,” Yas said, completely ignoring her outburst, “and I mean no disrespect, you have always been a fair and just ruler.” He bowed in worship, the action so at odds with his words it amused the Matriarch greatly. “Our predecessors were once perfect as we were or are, weren’t they?”
The Ancestral Mother smiled faintly and the Matriarch marveled anew at how blasé she acted about the whole thing.
“No, never perfect,” she paused, “and neither are you.”
They absorbed this with varying degrees of surprise. The declaration created an unpleasant buzz in the gathering.
“Don’t look so shocked,” The Ancestral Mother admonished. “If you were called perfect, what am I? They were good and flawed, but you are better. Where I made mistakes in each world, I corrected in the next,” she delivered quietly.
“Until you became dissatisfied with the work of your hands!” the words were an accusation delivered from the lips of the increasingly bold Yas. But the Matriarch had no objection as she was also interested in Mother’s answer.
“Yes, but two things actually. The first creation to suffer non- existence was good- at first,” she said softly. “But grew flawed. The second were just too imperfect to suffer being looked upon.”
The words were bald and struck at their hearts. The Matriarch flinched.
Their creator favored them with that mysterious smile again. “Know that as the one you owe your very existence to, I know everything. I should know what is best for my creations.”
“And when you get tired of looking upon us?” Yas asked in a silky note of his own, “Or we grow flawed perhaps?”
Mother didn’t deign that question with a reply.
This cannot and shouldn’t be happening,” the Matriarch declared.
“Why shouldn’t it happen? We are all not content to prance about wearing the title of the first Deji on our foreheads,” Yas sneered.
The Matriarch could only open and close her mouth, speechless. Why would a Deji aspire to rule, when they owed their existence to the creator? Uwan with its mortal inhabitants were hardly suffering. True, life in the ancestral realm was smoother, but Uwan and its inhabitants lived good lives. No one, not the mortals or the Dejis in the ancestral realm had ever raised a complaint about The Ancestral Mother’s rule. As the creator, no one had the right to question her sovereignty regardless of what had happened before them.
“Whatever happened before us is none of our concern,” Divina derided.
The silence that followed her declaration gave a resounding retort to her stat
ement.
The Ancestral Mother smiled, it was more a twist of the creases of her face than the product of an actual feeling. It didn’t bring comfort. Foreboding moved in the erratic steps of the Ganga dance down the Matriarch’s frame.
Immortal life was no longer what it had been, she realized with sinking finality.
The Dejis stared in a mixture of surprise and awe. A smile was the last thing they expected. “I know; you forget I created all things,” The Ancestral Mother leaned forward, “so do not presume me, that I will not forgive.” She paused, “I strongly advise you give this course a rethink.”
Yas bowed low. “We can’t. We will always wonder if Uwan would have fared better under our rule and,” he laughed dryly, “I don’t know about others but I will always live in fear of suffering the fate of our predecessors. Better to satisfy my curiosity before that time and die fulfilled.”
“How do you propose to get the power to rule?” The Ancestral Mother asked.
Yas bowed deeply.
The ancestral realm had never been this tense, the Matriarch thought bitterly, there had been no cause for it to be. With few inhabitants and endless space, the ancestral realm had always been a quiet realm since she ascended thousands and thousands of years ago, but the clouds vibrated with the gravity of the events taking place now.
“You will give us the power my God,” Yas announced to gasps of outrage and shock from the Dejis. “You are fair and just and I believe deep down you must feel guilt at the destruction and banishment you orchestrated. You will give us our chance.”
The Matriarch shook her head with a swift turn of her glistening neck; this could not be allowed to continue. She studied her creator hard. It was a testament to the depth of her powers she still could not predict The Ancestral Mother’s actions or thoughts despite being the first mortal to ascend to the ancestral realm from Uwan.
“If you are so thirsty to rule, I don’t see why the one seated on the throne should help the usurper. Think logical,” the Matriarch sneered at the still bowed Yas.
“This is no power tussle. It is doing the best for the mortals that believe in and worship us,” Yas said respectfully.
“Where were you when I laid the founding stones of Uwan? Were you in existence when I stretched out the unimaginable emptiness of the ancestral realm? Now you dare to,” The Ancestral Mother leveled her gaze on Yas as her voice dropped, “demand the right for ruler-ship from me?” She spat with a slight swing of her great head as her dainty form vibrated in anger.
“It will not change anything great Mother. You’ll remain our creator and overall ruler”
The Ancestral Mother narrowed her gaze on Yas as her figure shone the brightest the Dejis had ever seen since their ascension. When she spoke, her voice shook, the words laced with so much pain and anger that even Yas bowed his head to avoid meeting her eyes. “Out of compassion, I advise you to reconsider, for the consequences will be dire and will influence many.” Her tone suddenly turned wry, “I am your creator.”
Yas lowered his gaze and admitted, “I have thought of nothing else for the past years.”
The Ancestral Mother stared hard at Yas and her eyes blazed in an uncharacteristic show of anger. “You have thought of nothing else.” She repeated in measured tones.
“Yes,” Yas confirmed. “You shouldn’t have blessed us with the freedom of choice an—”
“No!” The Matriarch shouted.
Nothing else would have the power to surprise her after this meeting. The reactions of the Dejis were even more interesting than the nonsense Yas spouted.
The Dejis gasped at this further show of audacity, yet some followed the verbal sparring with more than a passing interest and a glint in their eyes.
The Matriarch didn’t blame them. She was just as shocked at the outcome. Never would she have predicted Yas’ scheming would bear fruit.
“Your mistake became my blessing,” Yas announced to the shocked assembly.
The Matriarch glanced at The Ancestral Mother. Surely, Yas had gone too far. Mother pressed a hand to her chest and the brightness of her form dimmed like the sun setting on Uwan. The burn of pain in her heart was real. She moved her gaze from Yas to study the assembled group.
The Matriarch lowered her eyes, respect, love and pity a riotous mix of emotions in her heart.
Yas was right in one aspect; she had given them too much. Probably the only meaningful thing that had come out of that mouth today, the Matriarch decided in derision.
But surely Mother didn’t mean to let Yas get away with this show of disrespect? Confused, the Matriarch raised her eyes to study the Creator. As she stared down at them from her throne, the Matriarch saw the anger slowly slip away as cold resolve took its place.
Mother had never done anything to harm her creations, The Matriarch decided uneasily,but that was before Yas’ show of disrespect.
Divina sprang up. Her eyes glowed with white fire and she stared Yas down, unsuccessfully.
Yas sighed. “Divina,” he began in a patronizing tone, “we know how devoted—”
“You know nothing,” Divina interjected softly. “Let me remind you of something that should never be forgotten.”
Yas shook his huge head.
Divina could be difficult most times and their clashes ensured they were rarely ever on the same side. And yet, Yas indulgent shake of head had the Matriarch ready to spring up in Divina’s behalf. Yas’ shake of the head implied pity at this apparent show of stupidity from the too loyal Divina.
Divina ignored him.
Good.
“This reminder is for everyone because I have seen from the expression on your faces while listening to Yas that you need it.”
But Divina struggled to control her emotions, taking deep breaths and letting it out slowly, completely unmindful they could all see her struggle, a weakness. It was so like her to do as she pleased. “This is a story we all heard as children growing up as mortals—”
“Now, you need us to transition to mortals just to make your point, What—?”
“Enough.”
That one word was quiet but thrummed with command. The authority that rang through it was neither contrived nor practiced.
The Dejis turned obediently towards The Ancestral Mother. She rested a warning glare on Yas before turning to her Utay with an unspoken command to continue.
But why would great Mother allow Yas continue this farce?
“The story is no story because it explains why we exist. It is the story of our creation, our transition and our ascension.”
“In the beginning, it was just the Ancestral Mother. Uwan was beautiful, but without intelligent life and creatures capable of reasoning, a sense of purpose and appreciation. She had floated through the ancestral realm to her most sacred place, the innermost realm, down to Uwan and back again.”
Divina paused to catch her breath. “Then she empowered the most advanced of creatures with reasoning and self-awareness.”
“At first,” Divina continued in a firmer voice, “it was exciting to watch these creatures make decisions, make mistakes, and live. After many generations of these creatures had come and gone, consuming and destroying other lesser life-forms, The Ancestral Mother realized that her creations needed—”
“Not from what we now know,” Yas objected.
“So, The Ancestral Mother created better mortals. These witches were extraordinary mortals blessed—”
“Look—” Yas began.
“Eventually, even they died.” Divina spoke over him, “Some of these mortals used the gift of choice she blessed them with so well she loved and missed them greatly when they died, she felt it, deeply. The Ancestral Mother gave mortals one final gift; the ultimate gift a creator can give to its creation - immortality.” Divina’s voice rang with even greater fervor now, the tones so hushed that some Dejis bowed before their creator in contrition.
“She decided that a select few of her magical beings could pass from life in the fles
h and become her Dejis; a life as eternal as it is limitless, characterized by possibilities but controlled by the dictates of their conscience. Whenever a remarkable mortal witch caught her eye, The Ancestral Mother selected and blessed the witch with immortality and the privilege to dwell with her as a Deji.”
“The Ancestral Mother ruled the khorn world with a free hand.”
Divina paused to give Yas a pointed glare. “These, we were perfect- good beings,” she corrected hastily, “and since most mortals worshiped the Dejis, she allowed her children free rein. The Dejis exercised authority over their mortal devotees, but within bounds. Limits imposed by their conscience and the creator’s trust that their time as mortal witches would see they do no evil to these mortals.”
Divina smiled sadly. “The Ancestral Mother gifted us the power to become witches. In respecting us, she never used her powers on us. We always had complete freedom. We are her children, her creation, and her family. As Sypas in our maturation phase and as Dejis we have coexisted in peace and harmony since the start of the transition.”
Yas gave her a pitying glance. “But now you know that story is no longer true, right?”
Divina faltered.
“It is from the beginning, our beginning,” the Matriarch snapped
Divina took a deep breath and looked deep into the eyes of each one. Plea, entreaty and forceful command, her expression held it all. “Do the right thing. The created has no right to question the one who created him. Why are we here? We are here only because she made it possible. If—”
Yas sprang up like someone who had just been bitten down below, the Matriarch thought snidely.
“She is our creator; we owe our existence to her. I will worship her throughout my immortal life,” Yas said in a rush. “That is not the argument here, you have wasted our time recounting an unnecessary lesson we all know.” He took a deep breath and paused, letting the resulting silence wash over him, glorying in it. His voice slowed and dropped in volume. The Dejis strained to hear his next words. “Perhaps, after our rule, if we are unable to handle it, we will hand over ruler-ship to the one who owns it.” Yas announced and bowed low before The Ancestral Mother.
