Life, Death & Destiny

Chapter 2

Electricity sizzled in the air whenever The Pillars were near. Their presence in the village began several generations before. History relayed in stories was fraught with inaccuracy and mystery. I would never know what the forebearers thought of The Pillar's first appearance and message.

Spring brought the wildflowers into full bloom. Once again, I had left the meeting huts unchosen. After three matches died in hunting tragedies and falling victim to tooth and claws, no man wanted to pair with me to bear a child. Unlucky and cursed, I lay alone in the tall grass. The sky was celeste blue with whisps of white clouds floating past that day.

"You'll find a match soon enough, Sage," said the gruff voice of my older brother, Branson. "A strong match will find you yet, and you'll continue the warrior line of our family."

"I don't care about children," I answered honestly, leaving the burden of my solitary life unspoken.

Expanding the village was a noble cause and created safety with each new person added to the village numbers. However, I was selfish. The need to be intimately close was what I wished for and the only reason I continued to attend the matching rituals. The curse of death luck had befallen other women. The chief and his trusted would intervene in time. My father was close with the leader of our tribe, but not as much as my three uncles.

"My kin." Branson soured his strong oval jawline with a deep downward curve of the lips. "Do not let anyone else hear you say such blasphemy. The role of women in bearing our children is a high honour and a great one. If father hears you—"

"I'm aware, kin. I will hold my tongue by father and his brother's fam—"

"You will hold it among the presence of all."

Branson sighed, pushed a hand through the brunette hair that shone with honey highlights, and looked to the heavens before casting his sapphire eyes upon my form still laid out in the valley grass. Branson was one of the deities we believed ruled the skies. Religion would soon become a foolish notion to those that partook in that fated night.

Branson squatted by my self-loathing form. "You're strong, sister. And where you get these independent ideas, I will never understand. But use that intelligent mind of yours. If you are outcast by the village, there is little I can do to help you."

"I understand, brother."

"The Pillars are near. Can you feel their approach?" he asked.

"Yes. It nearly burns the skin. Why is it so noxious?"

"Because there is more than one this time," Branson replied. "Three, in fact."

I shot into a sitting position. "Can I see them? I'll stay quiet!"

"We're all welcomed to observe this time." Branson chuckled as I sprung to my feet. "Slow down, Sage!"

But my soles were connected to my heart and, with it, the excitement. It was forbidden to lay eyes on them without expressed permission from the village leaders. I'd done so on all but one of their visits, which I was too young to understand. Hidden from the shadows, the Pillar with knee-length shining black hair and stunning sienna skin had always been my favourite. She came from a place that froze most of the year and called it 'North'. Only the leaders were permitted to speak with the Pillars of nature, and the rest of us knew very little. Perhaps my spying was the reason for the curse now, but the satisfaction of curiosity was worth the price.

A few angry expressions met us as I bumped and skidded to a stop using my fellow villagers for aid without permission. They shifted out of the way with annoyance at my lack of decorum but all the better for my insatiable interest in the only humans capable of crossing the vast expanses of our world.

Unrestrainable, the buzz of excitement forced a bounce into my feet to try different angles to spy on the newcomers. They stood at didn't statures. The sienna beauty was a step ahead of the others. She was as tall as Branson at five foot nine. However, her companion only managed four-foot-nine inches. This Pillar had entertained the chief last, six seasons ago. It was very soon for another visit. She wore short hair to the shoulders. An exceptionally rare feature for women of the time, but even more unique, was the dusk-red sky colour of her locks. Paired with the golden eyes, viewing her was otherworldly.

Neither of the two travellers aged a day from all the times I'd spied.

Then my eyes found the new Pillar, new to me. Wild and unruly eyes shone bright green under her reddish-brown thin hair strands that reached her mid-back. But surrounding the eyes were deep black markings that swished out at the far edge of the corners.

Stunning. I had reserved that for the taller Pillar, but this one was glorious. The mystery surrounding her was more than I could bear, and my body moved a step closer without consent. The five-foot-seven-inch high Pillar matched my height and drew my gaze in an unbreakable trance. She locked onto me with heat. Whatever spell she cast would only be broken when I knew more.

"Our guests, the Great Pillars of the Garden of Eden, honour us once more with their presence," the chief called to us all. "They bring tales of our kin from across the lands, tidings of lessons to help further our survival, and warnings to keep us safe."

Well, the chief broke her attention from me. The spell didn't affect us the same, and once she looked away, breath released from my chest, and attention turned to our Chief, Catoffe.

"I shall take these tidings in my tent with Sunbearer and Tigett as witnesses." Catoffe motioned to each of my uncles, heads of their family units and our leaders most trusted. "Please rejoice in our friendship with Eden, the gifts of knowledge the Garden sends, and show respect to their presence among us."

With those last words, Catoffe strode into the tent. His wrinkled skin showed around the corner of his eyes, and a low limp replaced his once-strong step. Time wore thin for the wise leader. Nature left no room for weakness, even mild kinds, on young Earth. Catoffe's black hair was spun into a long braid that looped around behind him, decorated with feathers and bones of those animals we could best, which were fewer than we wished.

The show, although short, was worth the race to reach the village centre. The new Pillar was the last to enter the tent. I watched her skin shine against the sunlight. But before disappearing through the threshold, those green eyes, made all the brighter by the black tracing around the eyelids, locked onto me once more. An expression I didn't understand reflected across her heart-shaped jawline, which I would later know as smirking. Even though I was oblivious, something inside me understood her interest in that split second.

"Hurry, South," the small red-haired Pillar instructed before they both disappeared inside the tent.

South would become my closest friend, most faithful alley, and greatest sin. One I could never recover from that would create a grand monster like none other, which my village was ill-adapted to contain.