Genesis (Erityian Tribes Novella, #7)

05 : ҁѫҩ•ѫϭᵻҁѯҩϫ

ҁѫҩ•ѫϭᵻҁѯҩϫ

If humanity would name its greatest enemy other than itself, it would be nature.

Before humans roamed the Earth, nature had always been the progenitor of life. It could survive and flourish on its own, but humans would perish without it. Humanity had progressed to its current state because of nature, but it could also disappear with the latter's wrath.

Nature had always had the absolute power over humans, but humanity could not seem to accept that. Envy. That was the only thing humans had that nature did not. Perhaps that was also the reason why some civilizations personified its terrifying glory into gods—the so-called superior beings who could harness the power of nature.

But there were also people who feared the real nature much more than the gods and the goddesses the civilizations had prayed to, because they knew firsthand how impartial it could be. Whether you prayed or not, whether you believe at those unseen beings, nature would not discriminate. It could save or kill you whenever, wherever, . . . however.

The adversarial relationship between man and nature had been the cause of several destructions, even almost extinctions, on both sides, but what drove both to stay around was their abilities to quickly adapt. Life would always evolve to ensure survival.

And perhaps the only ones who could be saved from nature's wrath were those who chose to surrender themselves to its power. People who dearly loved and feared it that they developed special affinity to it. People who evolved with it. The change might be unnoticeable for centuries, and might be gradual over multiple generations, but once it finally manifested, society, environment, and even the power struggle between those who had evolved, would surely change . . . and sometimes, in the most unpredictable ways.

***

During the Renaissance, along the mountainous and extreme coastal regions between Norden and Rusnia, there lived several ethnic groups who had hidden themselves from civilizations for generations. After the emergence of urban settlements, these people were forced to retreat to the mountain ranges and other terrains that were too harsh for normal ones. Here, they knew they would be protected by nature and the strange abilities passed to them through a long line of ancestors.

Yllka was from a tribe that worshipped the rivers and waterfalls bordering their village. Her parents told her that their predecessors had formed an affinity with bodies of water. They had protected them from centuries, and these natural elements defended them and their territories in return.

"One day, Yllka," her mother, Yndria, would always say before she goes to sleep. "One day, the great powers of the natural elements will be passed onto those who are worthy, as what our great ancestor Czeslav has foreknown."

That was an old tale the elders would always tell the kids. The people of the tribe had an affinity for water for centuries. They could predict the weather, any natural disasters, and even sense the people around them through observing the movement of water bodies. However, there was never one who could control the element.

Yllka respected the tales, but she found them hard to believe, especially after what the rivers and waterfalls turned into.

She marched up the sloped terrain of the mountain as their village were located near one of the highest peaks. Yllka stared at the frozen waterfall in front of her. One of the reasons why she found a little credence to their narratives was that the same waters they told her about were frozen for centuries.