Return of the Burning Man - Chapter One
Return of the Burning Man
Chapter One
Serant’i was thrashing at the weeds with a short stick
along the path’s edge as he walked. His
other hand held onto his most prized possession, a short shafted spear. Of course it was not like the iron tipped
weapons the men carried, it was a stick that had been sharpened to a point and
fire hardened; but it was straight and strong and worthy of someone who would
shortly become a man. Serant’i has seen eleven
summers; soon it would be twelve and he would gain his ‘iti man’s name and move
from the women’s huts to join the men. He was the youngest of all the men in the
Raven clan and would be the lowest in rank in the men’s hut until some of the
smaller children started to become men. But first he would have to prove himself in a
rite of initiation that he had no knowledge of and would only know when he came
to face it.
Four paces behind him, for
they are female, were Hetatoo and Elatatoo,
Serant’i’s chosen wives. He had decided that these two girls would form the
basis of his females and so he had chosen them at a ceremony in the sun last summer. Since then they had left the playing children
and joined him every morning to wander the village and it’s surrounding fields. Hetatoo had seen nine summers and Elatatoo, ten. Although they would spend all their daytime
with Serant’i they would not couple with him until they had seen fifteen
summers. They were both firm friends and
spent the day, when not walking, combing and plaiting each other’s hair,
applying earth colours to their skin and gossiping about village life[ST1] .
Serant’i himself, when
not with the girls, would sit with his friends, those who were also close to
manhood, and talk about weapons and hunting and would make coarse jokes about
the prettier of the unattached girls.
That morning was like
most others. They were out as far as the
ditches that had been dug to keep the village safe. They had walked this path a hundred times and
though Serant’i was alert they knew that there was no danger here. The girls were gossiping as usual and it was
beginning to irritate Serant’i, he turned sharply and faced the girls.
‘Berant’iti’s teeth,
can’t you women keep quiet for a the length of a path?’
Berant’iti was the god of the Sun and he looked down on
all of the world from his boat, Thantul that was rowed across the sky. He wore over his face a mask made of the
yellow metal that the priests used in their communication with the gods.
‘If you can’t stop
talking perhaps you can discuss something of interest, like the best way to
fletch arrows or how to make horn glue?’
The girls turned, looked
at each other and burst out laughing.
They clutched at each other and laughed until Serant’i grew irritated
and walked off thrashing the path edges with renewed vigour.
‘Our man is such a
fool, Hetatoo. Horn glue indeed!’
‘I wouldn’t know how to
fletch an arrow if Petatoo herself jumped down from her silver horse and commanded
me to.’ said Elatatoo.
Come sister wife we
must catch up with our foolish man in case he bids us wipe his arse!’ giggled Hetatoo. At this they both broke into fits of laughter
and ran up the path towards an ever glowering Serant’i.
As they grew close they
saw him stop close to the edge of one of the smaller, outer ditches. He held his hand up to the girls, as he often
did for some dramatic pause, to peer down into the ditch.
‘What is it man? Is Berant’iti trapped in the ditch water again?
The girls laughed
knowingly, thinking of the foolish people of the village who still believe that
the reflection of the sun in puddles and ditches was Berant’iti stuck and
unable to get out.
‘Give me your spirit
stone, NOW!’ he yelled.
Concern was etched
across his face. Hetatoo pulled at her
felted wool bag and searched the contents.
She found the stone but held it back.
‘Only priests and women
should use the spirit stone, husband. It
is a bad thing for a man to use one.
Maybe we should see what it is you are seeing?’
‘Give me the stone now,
woman or Thetant’iti will know of it.’
Hetatoo moved along the
track a few paces and handed Serant’i the spirit stone. He waved at her to move back down the
path. The two girls held hands and
offered a prayer to Suntoo the goddess of female protection even though they
had given up their amulets when they had been bride chosen.
Serant’i held the stone
to his eye and peered at the body. There
didn’t seem to be any spirits or ghosts attached to it and there didn’t seem to
be any demons lurking around the ditches.
He called to the girls to come forward.
They came to his side and when they saw the body both of them screamed
and held onto one another. Serant’i was
angry and shouted at the girls to be quiet and to pay attention to him.
‘Hetatoo, listen closely
to me. Run back to the village. Bring Rarantu’i, the priest and Sothoo, the spirit guide and bring my
father. Yes, fetch my father first,
Hetatoo, do you understand? He’s to be
sent first. Elatatoo you are to go and
find flowers and herbs to keep this man’s spirit still and quiet. Do you both understand what I want you to
do?’
They were both wide
eyed and trembling but they both nodded so Serant’i pointed them on their way
with his spear. He turned to the corpse
and poked it gently with the end of the stick in his other hand. He gazed at it again through the spirit stone
and saw nothing that bothered him. He
turned and looked along the path and preyed to Gurn’iti that his women would
hurry and not leave him alone with a body that had not been properly dealt with
by priest or spirit guide.
w
Despite everything he had said to her, Serant’i’s father
had not appeared first but it was the spirit guide, Sothoo and her assistant who
had turned up at the corpse site. She
immediately took over and despite his protests she had control of the
body. Serant’i was angered by this and
would have sharp words with his foolish wife on her return. He may even be forced to beat her if his
father would allow it. Now any precious
items or weapons may be lost to his family.
His father would not be pleased so surely he would allow him to beat
Hetatoo.
He stood a few paces away from the spirit guide and
watched her like a hawk. He would not
allow her to steal anything that belonged to him and his family by right. The body belonged to him, he had found it,
whatever was on the body was his or at least his families. He thrashed at the weeds on the paths edge
and scowled at Sothoo. She may be older
than him and a spirit guide but he was nearly a man and he would not stand for
it, the body was his; after she had claimed the spirit being inside that is.
‘Here, Lolontoo, tie these seed-pod rattles to his wrists
and ankles. They will compel the Numa to
remain calmly inside; should it becomes agitated the rattles will attract the
attention of Thetant’iti who will drag the spirit being to his frozen hall.’ said
Sothoo.
‘The Numa would not want that, Sothoo.’ replied Lolontoo
It was an obvious thing to say but Sothoo’s young
assistant had only been with her for this past summer and though clever with
plant and herb lore she was lacking in her understanding of the Gods and
spirits.
‘No, and that is the reason we are attaching the
rattles. To still the spirit being by
using it’s fear of Thetant’iti. Now hurry
and tie them on, we have much to do,’
The young girl started to her task and soon had the
rattles tied. Sothoo had brought two
leather bags and a small felted wool one.
Out of one she pulled small pots of herb preparations and ochre body
paints. She took the body paints and
began to daube the body with mystical signs and symbols. Serant’i was extremely agitated at this.
‘What are you doing, woman? What do those signs mean? The body belongs to my family, do not daube
it with marks of your own ownership. I
will not have it!’
‘Calm yourself, boy.
These marks tell the gods that this body has a spirit inside it and it
is to be left alone, nothing more.’
‘I will allow that then. But remember everything on this body belongs
to the Raven clan.’
‘I have no interest in anything other than this man’s Numa
you can have anything else on him that does not directly relate to this.’
She pulled out
her spirit stone from a felt wool bag at her side and spied up and down the
ditch.
‘Yes, all is well.
The Numa is calm and contained.
We must wait now for help in bringing the body back to my hut so I may
prepare him for burning and the release of his Numa back to his people’s Numa’dul.’
Along the path came more villagers and other Elders
followed by gangs of squabbling children.
Sothoo looked beyond them all and picked out the tall figure of Rarantu’i the most senior of the village
priests. He was walking calmly and
steadily. As the Elders reached the
ditches Sothoo lifted her arm and held out her hand to halt their approach.
‘You must come no further noble Elders. This is a matter for myself and
Rarantu’i. As soon as we have this man’s
body ready to move back to my hut I will fully appraise you of the situation
including how we will send his Numa back to his tribes Numa’dul.’
The Elders all turned and talked to each other. They all nodded in agreement.
‘There is something that you must know, Sothoo. Something that you must take account of when
planning this man’s Numa’s future.’
Sothoo turned to Lolontoo gave her some simple
instructions and told her to stay with the body and protect it from prying villagers. She walked towards the Elders and they made a
small circle around her. They handed her
a large felted wool bag and told her to look inside. She did and found inside it a doe skin
pocket. They told her not to take out what
lay inside but only to look at it.
Sothoo did as she was asked and when she discovered the circlet she
brought her free hand up to her mouth and let out a gasp.
‘Now you must know this story, Sothoo. This dead man, before he died, gave the bag
containing the item you have just seen to some village children with a most
amazing story. It is a story we must
tell you now.’ said Deran’iti the head of the tribal Elders.
Then he told Sothoo the story the children had been
told by the wounded and now dead man.
Then he said.
‘Berant’iti has watched this man die and so we must
care for his Numa. His deeds were
watched by all the gods and especially by Berant’iti, so we must do everything
in our power to complete this man’s task and to return his bones to his
people.’
Sothoo couldn’t argue with the Elders. His Numa will be dealt with tomorrow. They will burn his body and release it to the
spirit village. The bones would be
collected and placed inside a specially made funerary jar. Herbs and flowers would be placed inside and
the top would be sealed with clay and baked hard before a fire. The jar would then be decorated with symbols
from the man’s
clan [ST2] and
tribe and the jar placed within the clan spirit house.
‘His bones must be returned to his village, someone
must take them and this item too.’
She pointed to the felted bag and then tried to hand
it back but they would not take it.
It must be you, Sothoo. You must go with his bones but you must first
go to the village of the Broken Axe and give up this precious item, then you
must go on to take his bones back to his village.’ the Elder said.
‘But I have never been beyond the fields of our village. I will become lost.’ Sothoo looked alarmed
and was pleading.
‘You must not ask this of me. I will not find my way. I cannot do this thing!’
The Elders all raised their hands to calm Sothoo. They had no intention of sending her on her
own.
‘We are making arrangements for you to be accompanied
by an experienced tracker and hunter.
Someone who will guide you on your way to both the summer village of the
tribe of the Broken Axe and then to the village of the Burning Man.’
Sothoo looked relieved but was still concerned for the
enormity of the task the Elders we expecting of her, and whoever this tracker
was, for although the tribe of the Burning Man was known to her, she had never
heard of the tribe of the Broken Axe and finding them could be impossible.
‘Raru’iti is the name if the man we will be sending
with you, Sothoo. He is extremely
experienced in hunting and in the tracking of animals. Do you know of him?’
Sothoo was further disheartened by the news she had
just been given, She most defiantly knew
Raru’iti and what she knew of him made her angry with the Elders.
Sothoo knew Raru’iti as a disagreeable boy from her
childhood and as a boastful, arrogant teenager who made the lives of everyone
around him a misery. He treated his
wives badly and bullied the younger boys of the village. He was taller and stronger than everyone of
his age and his attitude made him many friends in the men’s huts which only
made him treat the other boys worse.
Sothoo was not happy about anything to do with the task that the Elders was
asking her to undertake.
‘I know Raru’iti well.
He is a most disagreeable man.
Unless you intend to compel me at knife point, I will not take on this
duty. Now if there is nothing else?’
Sothoo scanned the Elders and seeing no further
discussion she turned and made her way back to Lolontoo and to further work on
the body. As a spirit guide the Elders
could not compel Sothoo to do anything so she was sure that they would not even
be able to compel her at knife point.
The Elders made a tight circle. Their plans, even at this early stage, were unravelling
rapidly. They all looked at each
other. Finally Deran’iti spoke.
‘We cannot let the solemn duty that we have taken on
fail before it has started. Berant’iti is
aware of the strangers body and he swore to him that the people of our village
will take on his burden and carry it on to its conclusion. The item we have been left with has, by it’s
association with Berant’iti, become a sacred item. We simply MUST carry out the strangers mission
to its end.’
They all nodded and murmured their agreement but they
seemed unsure how to proceed. Conra’iti raised
his arm and when Deran’iti raised his head in ascension, spoke.
‘It seems, fellow Elders, that the problem we have can
be stated simply. Sothoo must accompany
the bones of the stranger and carry the sacred item.’
They all agreed and waited for him to continue.
‘But Sothoo is incapable of finding her way to the
village of the tribe of the Broken Axe or the village of the tribe of the
Burning Man. Am I correct?’
‘You have stated the truth so far, noble Elder.’ said Deran’iti
‘So, we have an experienced hunter and tracker, Raru’iti, who will guide
Sothoo, quickly and safely, to the places where she needs to be.’
‘Again you have the truth of it, continue.’
‘The problem is that Sothoo cannot abide Raru’iti and
so will not go with him. Therefor we
have to do one of two things. We must
make Raru’iti more acceptable to Sothoo or we must make the task so important
to the village and our people that Sothoo will put aside her feelings about
Raru’iti and accept the task. We would
have more chance making Berant’iti’s boat row backwards across the sky than making
Raru’iti a more appealing person to Sothoo.
That means that we are left with making the task so important to our
village that Sothoo must put aside her feelings about Raru’iti and accept that
the two of them must undertake this sacred duty.’
The Elders all nodded their heads in agreement. There was only one problem, how were they
going to achieve this end? There was no
doubt that making Raru’iti a more pleasant person was an almost impossible task
but it was also equally difficult to persuade Sothoo to put aside her feelings
for Raru’iti because taking on the task was a sacred duty that was in the best
interests of the village and peoples of the tribe of the Children of the Stars.
But they were going to have to find a way.
w
Rarantu’i was standing beside Lolontoo and the body as
Sothoo returned. Nothing else had been
done since she left despite leaving a simple list of things for Lolontoo to do
while she was away. Sothoo was still
angry from the conversation she had just had with the Elders so she was in no
mood for Lolontoo’s nonsense.
‘What in Thetant’iti’s frozen hell have you been doing
since I have been away you lazy girl?’
Sothoo raised her arm and went to beat the girl, which
was well within her rights, when suddenly Rarantu’i grabbed hold of her wrist.
‘Be calm Sothoo, the girl has been working under my
direction. I asked her what she was
doing while you were away and after she told me I bid her stop until you come
back as I wish to question you about any charms of spells you have used. The child was unable to furnish me with the
information I needed for me to start my own tasks.’
Sothoo, raised her hands to her face and wept. She had nearly beat the child for doing as
she was told and it was all born of her bad temper after speaking to the
village Elders. Lolontoo stepped forward
and wrapped her arms around Sothoo.
‘Now then, mistress, do not take on so. I would not have been so badly off for a
beating. I have probable deserved it a
thousand times over,’
At this Sothoo removed her hands from her face and wiped
it with the sleeve of her doeskin tunic.
‘You have never given me a moments trouble, Lolontoo. I am happy that you are my assistant.’
She took hold of the girl and wrapped her in her
arms. Then she stood aside from her and looked
at Rarantu’i.
‘We need to get on with the task in hand. This man must be taken back to my hut where I
can prepare him for cremation tomorrow.
Do you wish to carry out any rituals, Rarantu’i?’ said Sothoo
‘I will administer some herbal preparations and cast
some spells to ward off evil spirits, Sothoo, no more. Then we can move his body back to the
village. Does that meet with your
approval?’ he replied.
‘It does. I
have finished with the body so far. I
can only make further progress once we have the body in my hut. If you make a start with your spells, I will
head back to the village.’
Sothoo and Lolontoo started to pack up the jars and
pots into their bags.
‘If I might make a request, Sothoo?’ Sothoo turned and nodded to the priest.
‘If I might have the use of Lolontoo for a while?’ he asked.
‘Lolontoo, go with Rarantu’i and help him in any way
he asks. Pay attention to everything he does.
This is a great opportunity to learn from a wise priest. Stay
with him and return with the body when the men bring it back. Do you understand?’ Lolontoo nodded and walked away with Rarantu’i
towards the body. Sothoo shouldered the
bags they had brought and began to walk back towards the village. Before she had made much progress she was
stopped by another of the Elders.
‘Not so fast, child.
Do you think I would allow you to sneak the body away and with it any
possessions that are mine by right?’
Sekar’iti was not present when the Elders had put the
important task to Sothoo. She knew that
Sekar’iti was Serant’i’s father and so the only thing that would be on his mind
would be items of value on the body of the stranger.
‘Sekar’iti, we have almost finished working on the
body. When we have done so, and the body
is recovered from the ditch, you may remove any item that is not associated
with the man’s Numa. Please speak to
Rarantu’i once he has finished working his spells. I wish you a pleasant day.’
And with that Sothoo pushed past Sekar’iti and his
glowering son, Serant’i, whose two tiny wives stood behind him huddled together
with tears in their frightened eyes.
Slowly Rarantu’i cast his spells and rubbed herbal
mixtures onto the body. Lolontoo helped
where she could holding the arms and legs when the priest needed to mark the
body with symbols, tying bundles of leaves and flowers around his neck, waist,
elbows and wrists.
He shouted out to Sekar’iti and his son to come and
take any property that was theirs as the finders of the body. And once they had relieved the body of the
well-made iron spear, iron knife, the
remaining bags, some arm-rings and other jewellery, they gave up their
plundering and told Rarantu’i that he could keep ‘…what was left of the rotting
carcass.’
Finally he motioned to the six men who had gathered to
carry the body back to the village to come forward and to do their work. They slipped the body onto a large animal
pelt that was kept for the purpose of carrying bodies and with three either
side they started back towards the village.
Now the journey of the man’s Numa would begin. And now, perhaps, with some manipulation by
the Elders, Sothoo and Raru’iti’s journey would also begin
[ST1]Put
something in here about what Serant’i would do with the other boys of the
village. Talking about weapons etc.
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