Drakar:
“Stop” I shouted when I saw Snik running after the floating Crystal in order to catch it. “Snik don't touch it! That's an order.” I commanded the goblin scout. Snik along with all my other subordinates turned around to stare at me with inquiry. Why the heck are we letting the pretty floating crystal fly away, their gazes seemed to ask. However, I was in no mood to answer their curiosity. “Everybody, retreat immediately. Gather in the outside valley in ten minutes.” I commanded.
“ But …” Snik started to protest.
“Now!!” I shouted, swinging my trusted steel sword in an arch to slit a half metre tall rock at my feet into two. Shudders went through my subordinates, as they knew that once I started swinging my sword, I was being dead serious with no chances of rebuttal.
“Sir, Yes Sir” They shouted as one and started running back the way we came. After running for around half a dozen minutes everybody gathered together in the base of the valley outside the mountain.
I thought back to what had happened previously, the preposterous idea that came to my mind making me unable to believe that it could be true. While I was doubting myself, on whether my thoughts might be true or not, my subordinates had already assembled themselves into two lines and were waiting for me to tell them what just happened.
“Sir Drakar, what happened in there? Why did we leave after going in so far?” Snik interrupted my train of thought, when he saw that no reply was forthcoming after waiting for a few minutes.
“Hmm?... That Cavern might be more than what we bargained for. I need to speak with the Great Shaman to be sure. However, till we are sure what exactly is going on, nobody is allowed to enter the Cavern.” I decided. All of my subordinates started muttering at the same time.
“What do you mean, more than what we bargained for. There were not even any high level beings in that cave. Just some low level magical critters. Why did we chicken out suddenly? We could have occupied such a premium spot for our tribe with just one day.” another one of my war party suddenly questioned.
“Quiet!! Have you guys not learned any ounce of discipline despite Sir Drakar trying to instil it into you for so long? If Sir Drakar says we will wait for the Great Shaman, then we bloody well will do just that. Five of you will be guarding the entrance in four hour shifts till the tribe arrives. The rest of you are dismissed.” Grub shouted from beside me after seeing my thunderous expression. The other Goblins also seemed to realise that this might not be the best time to check how far my bottom line goes. And hence dispersed as soon as Grub gave the order.
As soon as there were only the five of my War party present, my imposing image crumbled. I started pacing around with my hand on my chin. This can't be true. But what if it is. Is this a blessing or a curse for our Nightshade tribe? Were the previous troubles, trials for such an enormous opportunity. Did the Ancestral spirits know about this and brought us in this direction on purpose. But what if I am wrong, and this is not really the thing I am imagining it to be. Should I go in and scout once more, by myself or wait for the Great Shaman?
“What just happened now, Drakar? Why did we give up halfway through?” Quib asked, after he saw me pacing around for the last ten minutes.
“I… I am not sure, but I think I know what this Cavern is, I must verify with the Great Shaman to be certain. It seems similar to one of the stories I heard from the Great Shaman when we were children. If what I think is true and the stories are to be believed, this Cavern might be the greatest blessing that our Nightshade tribe ever encountered or ….it might ruin our tribe. I can't foresee what exactly it is going to be.”
“And what exactly do you think this Cavern is?” Wizzle jumped in fed up with my cryptic remarks.
I looked around, and then led my party into a remote corner away from my subordinates. After verifying again that we were not in the earshot of any other person I brought up my incredible guess in a barely audible whisper.
“Don’t you remember the Ancestral records the Great Shaman taught us as children. He said that the ancestors of our race were created from nothing in the bowels of the earth by a deity. In a place where the dead can come back alive with their memories, and injuries could be healed without any spells. Where our brethren would grow stronger fighting against intruders without any fears of loss. A place where any of our wishes could be fulfilled just by asking for it as long as we could please our deity. A place where there were endless resources.”
“You are saying this is the domain of …” Wizzle asked.
“Yes, the Great Shaman told us then that over the long course of time our ancestors had found many places which had the power of our Creator Deity. However the hateful humans always found them and tried to take over these places by creating many tall buildings and walls around them. Those humans want to keep us away from the domains, because they are afraid that we will overthrow them with the help of the Creator. And do you remember the Great Shaman also told us we could recognize the domains where our Creator has power by finding places which had a crystal that floats in the deepest bowels of the earth.”
“Ca..Cave Deity?? You are saying we found a domain of our Creator, the Cave Deity??” Grub stammered with a myriad of emotions overtaking his visage.
“But that’s impossible. The domains of our lord are magical places with abundant resources and unbeatable protectors. That cavern seems rich, but it has no vast difference from the surrounding forests. And the critters living in it seem hardly unbeatable. Heck, most of them died with one strike and seemed no different from normal forest critters.” Quib finally voiced his doubts.
“Yeah, that is why I am also not one hundred percent certain if this is really a domain belonging to our creator or not. Thus we need to wait for the Great Shaman to verify it. The Great Shaman will know how to handle this situation. I think there were some rules we had to follow in a domain. I just hope that we have not already offended our Creator with our previous actions if this really is one of His blessed lands.”
“Hmm you are right. Let us wait for the rest of the tribe to get here and we can then decide what to do next.”
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The next day by mid afternoon the main body of our tribe met up with us by following the traces left behind by us on our journey to the valley. The tribe Chief Vorkus Nightshade as well as the Great Shaman Slinkshadow Nightshade made their way towards my party, while being surrounded by ten warriors while the rest of the tribe busied themselves with setting up camp in high spirits, as even the blind could see that this was a prime location for rebuilding our tribe.
“Drakar my man, excellent job you have done this time. Who would have guessed that you would be able to find such a prime location for our tribe this time.” Vorkus enthused with a wide grin.
“Chief, Great Shaman, before you make any permanent decisions there is something I must tell you privately.” I told them with a serious mien. Seeing my expression, Vorkus seemed to sense something and the excitement on his face was reduced by a few points.
Once I reached a private corner, Vorkus dismissed his guard with the rise of his hand, who in turn formed an encirclement around us, while still being outside our earshot to keep guard.
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“What is it, Drakar? What do you want to tell us? It seems like something serious?” Vorkus asked once it was only the seven of us present.
“Do you see the Cavern halfway up that mountain, Chief? I think it might be a domain of the Cave deity….” After dropping my guess like a bomb, I started explaining in detail our experiences. “So, all in all, I want to request the Great Shaman to verify whether our guess is correct.”
“You did the right thing by waiting for me to come and not taking things into your own hands. I will immediately contact the ancestral spirits to check if this is really the domain of our lord. If it is, then according to the Ancestral records certain steps should be taken to worship our lord and ask for his blessing. The Lord does not like outsiders barging into his domain forcefully and seeing his crystals. If we are lucky then the Lord will be appeased by our worship and not make it difficult for you, for your mistake done due to your ignorance.” The Great Shaman Slinkshadow answered slowly in his aged voice.
Cold sweat broke out on my back when I heard that I might have offended the Lord. “Go find one of my apprentices and ask them to prepare the objects for Ancestral worship.” Slinkshadow commanded by waving his twisted vine cane in my direction. “I am going to meditate and prepare myself to get ready to connect with the spirits.” The hunched figure stated as he slowly made his way in the opposite direction to which the tribe was setting up camp. Six of the guards making up our guard circle split off and followed the Great Shaman to protect him at all times.
“Well, that was a surprise.” Vorkus finally said after a long pause. “If you really found one of the domains from our Creator, then this will be a great contribution.” Although the chief’s words seemed to convey eagerness, his expression seemed to flicker between excitement and wariness as he made his way back to the other tribe members. It seemed even he was not sure if this was really a blessing for our tribe or not.
After a few hours of preparation time, a team consisting of the Tribal Chief, Great Shaman, his two apprentices as well as their ten guards made their way up the mountain alongside my party of five. Once we reached before the entrance of the Cavern, the two Shaman apprentices started making a circle made up of different minerals and stones and lit a fire at its centre. Once the fire was a suitable size, both of them exited the circle while the Great Shaman entered the circle with his back facing the Cave entrance. One of the Shaman apprentices started burning some type of herbs, of which the bitter smell started spreading to us within ten minutes. The other Apprentice started beating a medium sized leather drum in a certain rhythm.
Thump-Thump-Boom-Thump
Thump-Thump-Boom-Thump
The Great Shaman started dancing around the fire while a roaring moaning sound started falling high and low, which seemed to come straight from his chest. Time started to crawl accompanied by the haunting music and rhythmic drum beats.
Around a quarter of an hour into the worship, the wind started to pick up and a slight mist along with dropping temperatures accompanied the movement of air. By the time the mist was thick enough to blur our vision, the Great Shaman started floating a few centimetres off the ground while his eyes turned totally white. His dance continued while his hands started swaying towards the sky, and his voice seemed to come at an even higher pitch.
This continued for a few more minutes as his steps became faster and faster till at last he turned in a circle around himself, fell on his knees and bowed with his hands on the ground towards the cavern entrance. A moment later he slumped over and fainted. The Shaman apprentices waited for a moment, and when they saw that there was no extra movement, they ran over to the Great Shaman to carry him out of the circle and lay him down on some animal fur. Slowly the unnatural weather condition subsided and the surroundings became as quiet as before the worship ceremony.
When one of the apprentices held some herbs under the Great Shaman's nose, while the other started wiping his face with a wet cloth, Slinkshadow started rousing himself again from his unconscious state. We waited with baited breath as he slowly took measure of himself and his surroundings. “The Ancestors have spoken to me. It is as we have assumed, this is indeed a domain belonging to the Cave Deity.” Slinkshadow finally agreed in a slow exhausted voice. Various emotions of excitement, trepidation, reverence, worry flashed through everybody's face.
“Since we have already confirmed that this is a domain, I will start the worship ceremony towards the Cave deity after I have recovered enough strength. Luckily this ceremony does not take as much energy as making the connection with the Ancestors. Bring me the Roe deer that we have captured earlier.” The Great Shaman turned towards one of the guards and an apprentice while uttering the last sentence.
Once both of them started making their way down the Mountain the Great Shaman went forward so he was just outside the cave entrance, and stared into the Cavern for a long moment. Afterwards turning towards us he started speaking. “Listen carefully, though the deity worship ceremony is easier than the Ancestral worship ceremony its success largely depends on the mood of the Creator. The Lord is known for his mercurial temper and different domains seem to show different facets of his personality, making our Deity the God of a thousand faces. The Creator though temperamental is a benevolent god, as long as you give him a blood sacrifice and give him a small portion of the resources you desire, if he is in a good mood you might earn back a thousand fold of what you sacrificed. However, the Creator is a Lord who emphasises his subjects, on having to earn what he gives you, through courage, hardwork and perseverance. So if you are incompetent, or become greedy, the Lord may become angry and directly end your life.
The Ancestors said that on the other hand if he is in a good mood and you are pleasing to his eyes, he might resurrect you in his domain even after death. The Ancestors also gave a final warning, that similar to his thousand faces, the lord dislike repetition, a sacrificial deity worship ceremony should be held regularly with different sacrifices to appease the lord.” After a long pause where Slinkshadow focused his stare on us for a while, he continued. “Oh there were also two other warnings of the Lord's preferences, that the Ancestors found out through their blood, sweat and tears. One, our Deity dislikes anyone going near his floating crystal; he also dislikes a large number of his subjects visiting him at the same time, the optimal number seems to be between five and ten. Now, set up an Altar a few metres into the Cavern as we wait for the Sacrifice.”
After setting up a cut slab of Rock inside the cavern and tying up the struggling Roe Deer onto the Altar, one of the apprentices started arranging a few minerals, herbs and an iron spear behind the Altar. While the other Apprentice started burning some type of herbs once again.
The Great Shaman Slinkshadow draped in robes adorned with bones and trinkets, stepped forward with a knife raised above his head. "Great Creator of the Dark Below, hear our call!" he intoned, his voice echoing through the Cavern. "We, the children of shadow and stone, come to honour the ancient pact, to pay tribute to the Lord, our sacred guardian and provider."
With the Knife swaying from side to side the Great Shaman started to chant:
“From shadows deep, our kind arose,
In ancient whispers, secrets disclosed.
Beyond your halls, we sought to roam,
Yet ever drawn back to our home.
Through trials endured and victories sung,
In the dance of fate, where we belong.
In quests unknown, where courage thrives,
We reclaim our place, where darkness thrives.
Offerings laid, our spirits ascend,
To ease our journey, from beginning to end.
In your embrace, our destiny unfolds,
In darkness deep, our story told.
With blood and bone, we pave the way,
For riches sought, both night and day.”
With the end of the chant Slinkshadow brought down the knife aiming for the carotid artery of the Deer. Blood spray in a high arch all over him as the sacrifice started struggling for the life that was slipping away along with the blood that started overflowing from the Altar.
“Oh Lord, we offer this sacrifice to you to appease your anger for any of our current and future wrongdoing. Please accept our offering, as we will accept your trials and bless those who you deem worthy. We bow to thee, our Creator.”
“Oh Lord, bless us with your favour” we all shouted back as we were previously instructed.
After waiting for a while, we saw the Items surrounding the Altar along with the Sacrifice slowly disintegrate into nothingness. “It seems the Creator has accepted our Tribute. Let us go back to the rest of the tribe to share the good news and discuss our future plans. The Lord should be in a better mood for around two weeks, as long as we do not break any of his taboos.” The Great Shaman said after bowing towards the interior of the Cavern. After following suit, all of us started making our way back to our camp.