The situation with the humans was one concerning power. More specifically, the situation revolved around the fact that Fahu and Mahu were both over a hundred years old. As the civilization was just starting out and there wasn't really a set form of governance besides the basic patriarchy, the fact that Fahu was so old and close to death made everyone wonder who would lead the human family next. Who would be the “Father” that everyone turns to for guidance, for answers?
It couldn't be any of the second generation, because they were practically as old as their parents. Only a year younger than Fahu, because I created Fahu and Mahu as adults already. So most people thought that the next patriarch should be someone from the third generation. And already there were some obvious candidates.
The first candidate was Baku, the firstborn son of Fahu's firstborn son. He was already in his fifties, but he was fit and energetic, with a loving wife and a lot of kids. As his fathers grew old and more feeble, and as more and more people were born, Baku stepped up to help. People came to him to help settle disputes or to ask for advice or for help when Fahu was busy.
But Baku wasn't the only one that people turned to for advice or help. Hala was Baku's younger brother, the second-born son. He only recently turned fifty and was larger and stronger than Baku. People came to him mostly for help building or other physical tasks, and he was popular with the other men.
Both brothers were seen as the ones who were most likely to be the next patriarch of the family. Baku, because he was the firstborn of the firstborn and was seen as a wise figure. And Hala because he was a fun guy to be around and helped with the work. There were, of course, some other people who could be said to have a chance of being the next patriarch. Baku's son, Damon, was also seen around the village helping people and was often helping his father. Damon was also recently married and had a child on the way. Many said that if they are already skipping a generation to have Baku as the next patriarch, then why not skip one more to have Damon step up? But still, Baku was generally preferred due to his wisdom.
At first, everything was peaceful between the two brothers. They didn't really care much about who would lead next. But then Fahu became bedridden and it was obvious that he'd die pretty soon. Mahu also became bedridden soon after. That's when things became heated. Each argument became more and more intense. The last argument they had was when I knew that the possibility of something bad happening was pretty high.
I had already made up my mind concerning crimes and people doing bad things, so I kept to my decision and didn't interfere. All I did was send the transmissions telling them not to do it and to avoid it. Of course, since none of the humans could actually hear me, or even tell that someone was trying to talk to them, my transmissions didn't help at all. It just gave them a gut feeling that they promptly ignored.
"Come on, Baku, Hala..." I murmured to myself, "Notice my warnings."
But it was of no use, neither of them could hear me.
Hala, with several other men, was working on building a cabin for a newlywed couple. He was chopping at a log when Baku walked onto the construction site.
“The cabin’s coming along nicely!” Baku announced to the workers, “I’m sure Garin and his wife will be pleased.”
“I am indeed!” Garin said, popping his head from around a wall.
“Oh, there he is! Congratulations again on the wedding, may you and your wife always have a warm hearth and full stomachs. I hope you don’t mind but... Hala, I need to speak to you.”
Hala grunted, wiped his brow of sweat, and turned to face Baku. His stone axe hanging from his hand.
“What do you want this time, Brother? Shouldn’t you be on your farm?” Hala said coldly.
“Yes, well I figured it would be best if we discussed some things. Let’s move over to the side.”
“No need. Whatever you wish to say, you can say it here.”
Baku sighed. “Alright... I came to ask, once again, that you stop trying to become the next patriarch. We need a leader who is familiar with raising crops and providing food for everyone. It was a close call last winter, we can’t let that happen again. And we both know that I have always been better at that, that is why Father asked me to care for the farm.”
“You think I don’t know that food is important?” Hala growled, “We all went through the same thing! And besides, I grew up on that farm just like you. Father only gave you the farm because you’re the eldest son.”
“And that is another reason. I am your elder brother, you should be supporting me, not trying to oppose me.”
“Support you?” Hala scoffed, “Please, you get plenty of support from Mother and Father. You’ve always been their favorite... Enough of this. Leave, I will not give up. You have your plans and I have mine.”
Baku stood there for a moment just staring at Hala.
“Don’t tell me you still plan on exploring outside the white stones?” Baku finally asked.
Hala rolled his eyes. “Of course I do.”
“Hala, it’s suicide to leave the white stones. Don’t you remember seeing those beasts on the other side?”
“Yes, that’s exactly why. If we can hunt those beasts, we will have plenty of meat. We won't have to ration our meals next winter.”
A murmur of unease passed through the men watching the two brothers.
“Baku’s right...” A man grunted.
“We’ll die...” Another person whispered.
“...rather farm...” Someone in the back said.
Hala looked around at the surrounding people, startled at the men’s disproval of his idea. None of them met his eyes as he looked.
Baku rubbed his forehead. “Hala,” he groaned, “That is the most... unwise... idea you’ve ever had. This is exactly why you need to give up and let me lead the village. Just how many people are you trying to get killed?”
“I’m not trying to get people killed!” Hala shouted, “I’m trying to keep them fed! It’s as good a solution as any!”
“No, it’s not,” Baku deadpanned, “It would be better to plow a new field than to risk the men dying. You, yourself, almost died to that bear in the southern forest last year, and now you want to try hunting creatures that are larger?”
“What makes you think I’m wrong!? Why do you think that you are the one who is always right and I’m always the one who is wrong? Huh!? Why!? So what if I’m not as good at farming as you, that doesn’t mean that I'm not good at anything else!”
Hala suddenly stopped, took a deep breath, and pointed back the way Baku had come. “Just go,” he said quietly, “We have to get Garin’s cabin up, and you are in the way.”
“Hala...” Baku started to say.
“No, Baku, just go. We can talk tomorrow, but right now I need to focus on this work.”
With that, Baku left and everyone got back to work. The only sound was that of tools on wood, no one dared to speak after that argument.
He sounded calm but Hala’s thoughts were anything but. I could hear him thinking as he thought over what he “had” to do.
Why are these idiots suddenly against hunting past the white stones? Hala thought, smashing his axe into the log. They were just fine with the idea until Baku came along and said otherwise, and now everyone is against it!? Grandfather is almost dead, and Father is not too far off either, so the village has to decide who will lead everyone soon... and Baku has more support than me. Of course, he does... When hasn’t he had more support than me? It’s always him. Not this time. Not for this. If Baku was gone...
Later that night, I watched as Hala snuck out of his cabin. He had waited until his wife and three children were asleep. The cabin was only one big room, so he had to sneak around the cots. Once he was out, Hala quietly snuck over to Baku’s cabin. He took his axe with him.
Hala peered in through a window. Four cots near the walls and four sleeping forms. Baku; Lasil, his wife; and two children. They were all sleeping soundly, so Hala quietly went to the door and opened it. It was unlocked, of course, because no one had even thought of the concept of locking doors yet. There has never been any reason why. Hala was able to walk right in.
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He stood there. Next to Baku’s cot. Staring. Breathing shallow and quick. He raised his stone axe... pausing... then brought it down, smashing Baku’s skull in.
Lasil jolted awake, looked around for what made the noise, and saw Hala. At first, she was confused, but then she saw the remains of Baku’s head. The splatter.
She started to scream, but it was too late, Hala was already swinging his axe. The axe struck the side of her neck with a sickening snap. Her scream cut out as soon as it began.
Hala turned quickly to the kids, raising his axe... they were still asleep. He let out his breath and lowered his axe.
He left the cabin and leaned against the wall, gasping for breath at what he had just done. He killed them. Baku and his wife. He only wanted to kill Baku! He didn’t want to kill her! Why did she have to wake up!? Hala thought, trying to compose himself.
And I watched... I knew that death wasn’t the end or anything. They’ll be fine once I move them to Corprimal... and I was thinking about what to do with the souls there... so they will be fine... Hala’s soul, however, was in trouble. His soul hadn’t just turned slightly gray, his soul had turned a dark gray and only got darker by killing Lasil.
I sighed and leaned back away from the planet. Watching that was sickening, but I had resolved myself to not physically stop crimes, so I had to stick to that.
The two spirits were floating above their bodies, unconscious due to the shock of dying. They wouldn’t wake up for a while. I turned back to Hala.
He was heading back to his own cabin now, still in a daze at what he had done. Still, Hala was imagining all the respect that he would have as the leader of the village, the patriarch. If only he had realized that he had already been respected and looked up to. There had been about a forty-five percent chance that Hala would have won instead of Baku... now though, it wasn’t possible. What Hala didn’t know was that he was seen leaving Baku’s cabin.
Baku’s neighbor, Darrin, had woken up late that night because one of his cows was making noise and he went to check on them. He was heading back inside when he saw Hala exit Baku’s home holding an axe, breathing heavily, leaning against the wall, and then leaving.
Well, that was strange, Darrin thought with a shrug before heading back inside his own house.
The next morning was quiet at first as if everyone knew that something had happened, but then two children screamed. Baku’s children had woken up. Everything after that happened very quickly. Darrin ran over to see what was happening and saw Baku and Lasil dead. He immediately remembered seeing Hala coming out of the cabin that night. It was a sickening thought, that someone would be able to do something so horrible, but what other explanation was there? Two heads had been caved in. Two children were now parentless. They had many adult siblings of course, and could live with them, but they had been deprived of that special bond of parents until they could meet again as spirits.
Other people came running at the sound of the screams and Darrin told them all about Hala. At first, they didn’t believe him, but Darrin convinced them to at least question Hala. The group all moved towards Hala’s home, though some stayed behind to take care of the two children and the bodies. Baku’s son Damon arrived as the group was leaving and he stayed as well.
When they got to Hala’s home, they all saw Hala immediately turn pale and break out into cold sweats. He tried to act nonchalant, but when Darrin accused him of killing Baku and Lasil, Hala started ranting about how he deserved to be the next village patriarch and how he was great and Baku sucks blah blah blah... I didn’t want to listen to his rant, and I didn’t care. I was busy sending feelings of comfort and love to the kids whose parents he murdered. They couldn’t hear me of course, or feel what I was sending, but it was better than nothing. Hala sucks.
Anyways, I watched the men of the group manhandle Hala. They all decided to take Hala to Fahu to see what they should do with him, leaving Hala’s devastated wife behind to take care of her crying children.
Fahu and Mahu’s cabin was in the center of the small village, so it didn’t take them long to reach it. They walked straight in and forced Hala onto his knees in the middle of the room.
The cabin only had a single room, with a table, a couple of chairs, and a bed against the wall. There was a fire pit in the center of the room with a small fire going. Mary was tending to the fire, listening to Fahu and Mahu tell stories from their bed. They were both too old to do much else, but Mary enjoyed listening to their stories, especially how they woke up in the middle of a field in clothes that no one had been able to replicate.
Storytime, however, was interrupted when Hala was forced to kneel next to the fire. Mary knew everybody here, but with the tense atmosphere and the angry faces, she backed away and went to Fahu’s side, clutching his hand.
“My sons, what is going on? Why are you forcing Hala to kneel here?” Fahu asked, gently patting Mary’s hand. His voice was breathy and sounded weak, but his eyes were still clear as he looked at the men who barged into his house.
“Father, we are here because Hala killed Baku and Lasil,” one of the men said.
“He what!?” Fahu yelled, and tried to sit up, but just ended up in a coughing fit.
“Last night,” Darrin spoke up this time, “I saw Hala leaving Baku’s home with an axe and then this morning we found Baku and Lasil dead. I didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t see any other explanation. We went to ask Hala to explain himself and he confessed everything. Hala really did kill them. They are dead. We brought him here, Father, to ask what we should do with Hala.”
Fahu, and Mahu who was right next to him, was stunned. Never in his hundred years of life had he imagined that this could happen. Mary had buried her face into her grandfather’s shoulder, trembling.
“Why?...” Mahu asked, her voice barely a whisper, “Why would you kill them, Hala?”
Hala didn’t respond, he just stared blankly at the fire.
Garin pushed himself through the gathering crowd to the front. “I believe I know why,” he said, “Yesterday, Hala was helping me build my cabin and Baku came over to talk to him. Baku asked Hala to support him as the next patriarch after...” He coughed. “And, well, Baku said that Hala’s plan to hunt outside the white stones was unwise. Hala got really angry after that. I think that’s why.”
“Hala, do you have anything to say about your actions?” Fahu asked.
Hala gave a small shake of the head.
Everyone was silent as they waited for Fahu’s decision.
“Hala,” Fahu finally said, “you have killed Baku because you wanted to lead your brothers beyond the white stones to hunt. As such, your punishment will be that from now on you are exiled. You will leave the white stones and never come back.”
Hala jerked his head up to look at Fahu. “What? No! You can’t send me out there alone, I’ll die!”
“Baku and Lasil died by your hand. Death is a fitting punishment, and leaving the circle of white stones is as good as death.” Fahu looked at Darrin and Garin. “Take him away. Send him out west... and give him a spear and a small sack of flour... if he tries to come back in, kill him.”
They both nodded and hauled Hala up to his feet. A couple of other men went with them to help, grabbing spears and food.
Hala tried to escape, of course, he didn’t want to die, but it was no use. He couldn’t fight off five men, and he just ended up being bound by leather cords. The commotion and the rumors spreading led to a crowd of people following them out of the village and to the white stones.
The trek over to the edge of the circle of white stones took about three hours. Only a couple of people turned back, most stayed with the group though. They wanted to see what happens if you leave the circle.
They were in the plains, but the Southern forest’s treeline curved and met them at the westernmost white stone pillar and continued on past into the distance. The pillar was made of pure white stone, twenty feet tall, and five feet in diameter.
Even the few people that have been to the white stones before looked up at them with sparkling eyes. The stones were beautiful to them. A geological wonder. A mystery that no one could figure out.
After a moment, they all remembered why they were there. As the crowd watched, the men lowered their spears at Hala and one started to untie the cords binding him.
Hala didn’t try to fight anymore, he just snarled as he grabbed the spear and bag of flour offered to him, and then turned around and marched past the white pillar of stone. He might have looked determined to set off into the wilderness, but I knew what he was really planning. Hala was planning to hide in the woods until everyone went back to the village and then sneak back into the protection circle. He would do the same thing he did last night; kill them in their sleep. The men that made him kneel would go first and then if anyone else opposed him, he’d just have to kill them too.
Hala smirked as he looked around. He did have to survive first though, if he wanted—Snap!
A branch broke to his left. Hala whirled around to face it. Twenty feet away, standing between the trees, he saw what made the sound. He saw a large bear, ten feet tall on all four legs, strands of drool dripping from its maw, its beady black eyes looking right at him. Both the bear and Hala were still for a moment.
Hala shifted his foot backwards a fraction. The bear lunged. Hala sprinted back the way he had come.
The crowd of people, on the safe side of the white stone pillars, had just lost sight of Hala when they saw him come sprinting out of the trees towards them. Darrin, and the rest of the men, pointed their spears at Hala.
“Turn around, Hala! You have been ex...” Darrin’s yell trailed off when a roar and a giant bear burst out of the trees behind Hala.
Within seconds, the bear tackled Hala to the ground and was ripping into him. Dark purple guts were pulled out of a screaming Hala and disappeared into the bear’s mouth.
The crowd watched in horror, silent, until one of the women screamed. That was understandable. I would have screamed too if I were her.
Well, if I were her then obviously I wouldn’t do anything differently than she did because I would be her... what a dumb phrase that just popped into my head. Wouldn’t it be better to say ‘if I were in your place’? Anyways...
The scream alerted the bear to the crowd’s presence. It looked up at the crowd, roared, and charged at them.
Everyone screamed this time and they turned to run. They didn’t go far when they heard a meaty thwack and a crunch behind them. They turned to look and froze.
The white stone pillar was glowing with white light. The air in front of a downed bear was rippling with light as well, with strands of light connecting to the pillar. The light in the air quickly faded and the pillar dimmed before fading as well.
The bear groggily got up, shaking its head. It roared and lunged at the crowd again, only to collide with shimmering light. Each point of impact, as the bear clawed at the light, sent ripples through the air as if there was a surface of water blocking the beast. More visible, however, were the straight lines of light that appeared, connecting the points of impact to the glowing pillars.
Two lines per impact. One to the pillar they were at and another that stretched into the distance, a mile away, to another glowing pillar. Lines and ripples of light in the air, between the mysterious glowing pillars of white stone, that kept back a bloodthirsty monster. Many mouths were wide open at the sight.
Eventually, the bear got tired of trying to get in and went back to eating Hala, who had finally died. And the crowd collected themselves and went home to tell everyone what had happened.