ACT V
Sacred Groves
Sometime in the early morning, I was awakened by the sound of a fire extinguishing. I opened my eyes and rubbed them with the back of my hand. Through the half-open tent entrance, I saw Owen leaning over the smoldering remains of last night's fire. When he noticed I was awake, he smiled broadly at me.
"Shall we continue?"
I nodded, shrugging off my sweatshirt and quickly putting on a dress. My brother soon followed suit. For breakfast, we ate sandwiches and drank some water, then packed up the tent and continued on our way. Both Owen and I slept soundly; we had no trouble falling asleep...
The day had already begun. For three suns stood high on the horizon. We weren't hot, however, because heat simply didn't exist in this Land. The only place like that was the desert; that's where the suns were most intense. We resumed our mysterious journey, heading straight for the mysterious trees silhouetted on the horizon. For now, all we could see were straight, black branches. But they were very similar to our Earthly plants...
"Do you think there's something there?
" "I have no idea. But I don't like it," he replied, pondering something. "See that? There's not a single leaf on the branches of those trees. They're completely dry and dead, and there's no grass around them either. As if something had killed everything.
" "Let's avoid that grove.
" "I doubt we'll make it..."
And Owen was right. When we crested a small hill, we saw that the trees stretched on for a very long time and that it wasn't just a small forest as we had initially thought. Owen hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, we had no choice but to enter the forest. Our unicorns descended and trotted into the trees. A dozen or so meters ahead, we reared our mounts. We stared in horror at the massive trees, their enormous branches adorned with long... long hair...! They were already faded and dull, fluttering in the light breeze just above the road leading through the forest, where even the ubiquitous grass was absent. Then, from the darkness of the trees, animal skeletons emerged, suspended from the branches, just like the hair.
"Is that hair...?" I asked in a choking voice. "...And skeletons...?
" "It looks like it," Owen replied, a little intimidated. "Those tufts of hair, they seem to remind me of something... Like some... Sure! That's how the Indians marked burial grounds." Otherwise known as sacred groves...
- Burial grounds? - I groaned, wincing. - Not that...
- Hmm... I wonder where it came from... I thought it only had to do with the Celts...
- Or maybe it's something more than Sid?
- If that were the case... If that were the case, we'd have a hard time reaching our destination.
"Don't say that..."
I followed Owen, whose Unicorn wasn't exactly pleased that we wanted to enter this terrifying forest. My Pegasus wasn't thrilled either, but he didn't put up much resistance.
"Owen..." I looked around rather uneasily.
In some places, the forest was very sparse, with only occasional large, black trees, and then we'd come across extremely densely overgrown areas.
"I don't like it here..."
The wind rustled, moving the skeletons hanging in the trees.
"Me too..." he whispered, as neither of us dared to speak aloud.
Unfortunately, we soon realized something was wrong. Instead of weakening, the wind grew stronger with each passing moment. We stopped the agitated horses, which began to snort and spin around.
"Easy..." I whispered to calm them down. "Easy!"
And suddenly, the wind stopped. In a single moment, there was complete silence and stillness. As if nothing like this had ever happened. When the dust clouds subsided, we saw four mysterious figures standing in the center before us. Three tall, powerful men and a woman. They all had long hair, woven with white feathers somewhat resembling eagle feathers. They were dressed in black leather vestments that flowed to the ground. They were adorned with both bird feathers and animal claws. The woman had strange black tattoos on her face, depicting mandalas and earthly zodiac signs. The men, on the other hand, had only a tattoo on their foreheads, a kind of headband, supposedly representing the signs of all the planets in the solar system. We dismounted from our mounts and made the same gesture of greeting as Peorth had when he greeted Mitra. The strangers responded in kind.
"Forgive us," Owen spoke first. "We had no intention of disturbing the peace of this place. We only wish to pass through." We are going to Jyxabor.
"Welcome, strangers. It is our honor to welcome you to the sacred Indian grove," said a woman standing between three enormous men. "The wind has brought us news of you, descendants of the great Henry! Welcome."
A heavy burden lifted from my heart, so I smiled with relief when it turned out we were safe.
"Surely you wish to meet us. We will welcome you for the night. For you cannot remain here any longer," said one of the men.
"Lead the way."
We followed four mysterious figures who moved silently, seemingly without even touching the ground. We were dazzled by their radiating authority and solemnity. Soon we left the main road and set off through a forest where the only things that existed were trees...
Soon, a bright, milky fog enveloped us, something that hadn't been there a moment ago. When it subsided again, as suddenly as it had appeared, we saw Indian totems. They depicted bears, eagles, foxes, and other animals typically depicted by Indians. Native American wigwams were also set up all around us, and in the center, most likely a village, a large bonfire burned with green flames, around which some Indians sat. They looked Indian, in fact; they had white, or rather gray, hair, with feathers tangled in it. Their leather garments were decorated with strange designs and utterly distinctive faces, like those we'd seen in movies before...
When they spotted us, they bowed to us and invited us to the bonfire. We sat down eagerly, surprised to find our distinguished companions gone...
"Welcome, newcomers," the chief announced, as he wore a large plume and sat in the center of a semicircle formed by people we didn't know. Indians.
"It is an honor," I said quietly.
"So you come to study the behavior of the inhabitants of Avinlion. And at the same time, you are the great descendants of our lord and king, Henry. Therefore, only you have this right. This is what we have to tell you..."
The chief gently tossed a handful of something into the fire, which rose with a crackling sound and told us the history of the Indians... Simultaneously, we heard the pounding of drums, the sound of which seemed to reach us from a great distance, never ceasing its steady rhythm. At one point, we were handed some herbs to slowly toss. Then we heard a man's voice, distant...
We were a tribe living peacefully on the plains of Earth, the blue planet of the solar system. We never waged war, we lived happily and peacefully. Our totems were sacred to us. We worshipped the gods of nature and never felt bad about it, for the spirits of the Earth protected us... One fateful day, the white men came to us. With all their wisdom and civilization, they oppressed us for so long, they persuaded us for so long, that we changed our faith. Everything we believed in, all our power and the Magic we wielded, was forgotten. As true Indians, we ceased to exist. True Indians we were never again. Everything our mothers had so lovingly taught us was only a small fraction of what we had once been capable of... There was no future before us... And yet... Yet we still dreamed of a land where we could peacefully pursue our abilities, relearn them. We longed to return to the grace of the gods of nature, we needed it... For we began to lose ourselves. There was no longer harmony between us; we were destroying ourselves. We died like Indians amid the roar of machinery, amidst the immensity of skyscrapers and the roar of traffic... We needed all our powers to call upon our nature deities. We begged them to forgive us for such a shameful betrayal and to accept us back into their midst. Seeing our plight, our benevolent deities decided to help us. However, we knew that returning to our former lands was impossible, for cities had long since sprung up there, and trees had been cut down to prevent them from obstructing and cluttering the asphalt roads... The deities had abducted us, at our own request, to Avinlion, and that is why we are here now. Only here did we find peace and rebuild our traditions and culture. Our warriors hunt in the grassy meadows of this land, our women wash clothes in the clear rivers, and our children shoot archery and ride horses. We had no chance on Earth, only Avinlion gave us a sense of security and fulfillment; without it, we would have perished, destroyed by the present. We are home, Avinlion is our home. On your journey, you will undoubtedly encounter many more earthly tribes who, to escape the present, have found their haven here. There is no other land that will help us as much as Avinlion, the Land of nature deities, the Land of Magic and energy. There is nothing more powerful than the Sun Sword; it will save Avinlion from destruction, it will protect us from the present... Our Magic has never been based on anything other than the fundamental energies flowing through the earth. We believe that only nature influences our lives; it is the most important deity; it nourishes us, shelters us, clothes us, and allows us to live. Without nature, there would be no future. Thanks to our deities, we have learned to defeat our enemies with a poisoned bow and arrow. Our powers have been revived again, not on Earth, but on Avinlion... This is our history, the history of the new Indians...
At that moment, all the drums struck in one great beat, and everything vanished. We were sitting by the campfire again, not soaring among warriors hunting buffalo, among children playing, and the other images we'd seen earlier.
"It must have been hard for you," I sighed.
"Yes, but we don't have all those problems anymore. They're over.
" "Nature deities..." Owen thought aloud. "What do you call them?
" "They are the Burning Bear, the guardian spirit of fire. The Forest Deer, the guardian spirit of all vegetation. The Swimming Salmon, the guardian spirit of water. The Cloudhawk, the guardian spirit of air.
" "These are our most important gods; they are sacred to us, and every evening we offer them sacrifices so they won't bring us misfortune.
" "What are you hunting?" I asked, surprised. "There's no game here."
"Of course there is. However, you must have a sign.
" "A sign?" we asked simultaneously.
"Yes. Wherever you stop, you will receive a sign that will help you learn more and more about Avinlion. For now, your eyes are closed to many things, but the day will come when you will know everything. Just like your grandfather. "
We exchanged surprised glances.
"The suns are setting, the warriors are returning from the hunt."
And as if he had foretold the future. Soon, warriors emerged from the mist. Dressed in traditional clothing, with long hair, painted faces and bodies, they carried bows and arrows, as well as slaughtered buffalo.
We watched for a moment as the chief and the warriors greeted each other. Then the tiny women arrived, took the bows and arrows from the warriors, and began to prepare the meat, while the men sat around the fire we were sitting by and began talking. Some went to their tents, others went back to the children. I couldn't believe we were participating in all this. I watched them and watched, but I couldn't take it all in. When a large red moon appeared in the sky, everyone suddenly stood up, and we, too, rose from our buffalo hides.
"Let's go," said the chief.
And all the men, along with us, went to a clearing where a large buffalo stood among the dry trees. The warriors circled the clearing twice while we stood, astonished, in the center. Immediately afterward, they sat down, and then we heard the beating of large drums. It terrified me. I gripped my brother's hand tightly, and he himself watched in astonishment as, one by one, every torch hung throughout the forest began to burn with a red flame. The men rose and began to dance, but they didn't enter the center of the circle. They danced around it, a strange dance of victory. At that moment, the chief handed us a large silver knife with a handle made of deer antler. We looked at it in astonishment.
"Kill the buffalo now, and then cover yourselves with its blood."
When I heard such a thing, I couldn't believe they actually expected us to do this. I looked uncertainly at the defenseless buffalo, frightened by all the screaming and the beating of the drums, and took a step back from my brother. He, too, was very surprised.
"It's a sacrificial animal. You can't offend the gods by not killing it.
" "Why?!" I screamed, not recognizing my own voice. "It's unnecessary!
" "Nothing is unnecessary, everything has its purpose. Including killing that animal. I'm warning you! If you don't do this, the nature spirits will be angry with you."
We stared at the buffalo tied up in the middle of the clearing for a long time.
"Owen..." I looked at him uncertainly.
My brother frowned and looked at me, his eyes moving from the animal.
"Come on."
I agreed. I don't know why, because if I had been anywhere else, I certainly wouldn't have done it. But the beating of the drums, the warriors' cries, and the smell of burning torches clearly had a magical meaning.
We both grabbed a knife in both hands and ran it across the animal's throat, which collapsed to the ground with a desperate roar. The screams stopped, and only their echoes reached us. Owen dipped his hand in the animal's blood and ran his hand across my forehead. I did the same, and soon we were back at the fire. There were no warriors, no women at the meat, no one but us and the chiefs, or rather, the Tribal Council. We looked at each other in surprise and felt something dripping from our right arms. I lifted the sleeve of my blouse and saw a strange mark on my arm. It was quite large and reminded me of a flower in a circle. And nothing but blood was dripping down my arm... My brother had an identical mark, in the same place.
"This is the first sign of your power." He will allow you to see all the totems around you that we have erected in honor of our deities. And now you will also see the buffalo and the wolves, and our Deities, though you will not be able to summon them anyway.
"Thank you," I said, moved.
"We have something else for you," said one of the elders on the Council.
He held out a quiver of arrows with red feather fletchings and a beautiful, massive wooden bow.
"These arrows are poisoned, so you should be very careful with them. And the magical power we have endowed this bow and quiver will ensure that you never run out of them. "
With a lump in my throat, I took the bow and arrows from him with great respect.
"The suns are rising. You must go now..."
We looked back, and at that moment four figures emerged from the mist, the same ones who had led us here earlier. The campfire and the entire village vanished in an instant, and we found ourselves enveloped in mist. Slowly, we rose from the ground and followed the mysterious figures. Soon we reached the road and stopped there. Our unicorns stood nearby, just as we had left them.
"Thank you for your guidance," Owen said gracefully.
The four magnificent figures bowed low to us, and each one approached us in turn and touched our tattoo. It turned black as night and no longer hurt as much as before. We thanked them once more, and then they vanished, vanishing before us into thin air.
Once again, we mounted our mounts and set off along the road through the eerie forest, only this time it wasn't as mysterious as before. We now knew that humans lived here too. Completely normal people... Well, no, we probably can't call them that, because they knew Magic better than we did. Certainly better, because we didn't know it at all. They were Indian shamans from the sacred grove, who gifted us with a kind of third eye, thanks to which we were able to see what we had neither seen nor heard before...
Soon we emerged from the forest, and an incredible sight unfolded before us. I gasped in awe, holding it there. We also stopped our unicorns to take a closer look.
Where we were standing, there was a high hill, even though the road wasn't uphill from the other side. It was relatively high, but it rose rather gently. The entire landscape before us was covered in grass as usual, but now, along the road, huge, almost enormous totem poles were placed. And among the tufts of grass, countless black bison grazed. They grazed completely peacefully, while three- or four-meter-tall Indian totem poles towered over them, as they were also placed here and there in the meadows...
"WOW!" I gasped, letting out all the air in my lungs.
"It looks like something out of an incredible movie.
" "This is more beautiful than any movie!" I exclaimed, galloping straight towards the herd of buffalo.
The startled animals formed a semicircle and charged down the slope. And I was among them, finally having the opportunity to feel their power firsthand. When I turned around, I saw Owen galloping right behind me, constantly urging his Pegasus. After a short while, we were galloping through the midst of a herd of thousands of huge buffalo, feeling truly happy. Then the herd veered, avoiding one of the many totem poles, and we galloped straight in the direction the road led us.
"Thank you!" Thank you!!!!- I shouted after the herd, waving my hand in friendship.
It was completely dark by then, or maybe not completely, because the large, red moon gave us plenty of light, but it was already night, and we were exhausted from the chase for freedom and the wind. I was happy to be galloping across the steppe with such magnificent animals... In high spirits, we set up our tent and lit a fire. This time, on the horizon, we saw a huge herd of buffalo grazing peacefully in the grass. We gave our Pegasi what little water they had left, and the next day we decided to get new supplies. There was still some room in our saddlebags, which were slung over the horse's back. We made ourselves dinner and went to bed... We were exhausted from the day's experiences.
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