Blood stained the walls and the floor of the hut. Ivory looked up from the corner in which she hidden. Her green eyes glazed over with fear. Her heart pounded. The shadow moved. Ivory flinched. The shadow moved away, closer to the opening door of the hut. Ivory crouched in the corner, praying that it didn’t look at her.
***
The people of the tribe gathered around the fire, listing to the sound of the elder woman telling the story of how are tribe came to be. As the story ended, Heath, the chief’s son, joined the tribe. The elder woman gave him a rotten look. Now it was time for the elder woman to choose the person to paint on the tribe’s wall. It was a symbol of how the Tribe of Bones had survived the past years trouble and how they were going to strive through the year to come.
The elder woman closed her eyes. “The spirits are saying a name.”
Heath straightened his shoulders, his blonde hair coming to his shoulders. The tribe whispered with anticipation, waiting for her to call the name. The spirits always chose the people who were popular and had good looks. The people who had a good future ahead of them, the people who could survive.
“They say…..” she whispered. The tribe quieted in anticipation.
“Bone…Colour of bone….White..No..Ivory,” her eyes opened and seemed to look through the crowd. “Ivory. The spirits have chosen.”
Her gaze cut through Ivory like a knife.
Everyone turned there shocked gaze to Ivory. Her straight black hair shined in the moon light, her green eyes bright. Her pale skin reddened with all the attention. She stepped forward. “Me?” she asked, also in shock.
“Yes, you child. Come forward.” the elder woman said, clasping her hands together.
Ivory shuffled forward, uncomfortable because of all the eyes on her. She straightened her bear skin skirt and fiddled with the necklace of bone around her neck. She reached the front. She turned to look at the elder woman. “The spirits have chosen you, my child. They sense great power, great wisdom from you.”
Ivory stared in disbelief. “What do I have to do?”
“Clear your mind. Listen to there whispers. Listen to what they say. Paint what you see, my child,” The old croon whispered.
Ivory closed her eyes and the drums started to play, softly in he background. She cleared her mind of all thoughts and listened. When she heard nothing, she started to open her eyes.
“Keep you eyes closed!” The elder woman whispered.
Ivory closed her eyes tight and then everything went quiet. She suddenly started to feel queasy. She opened her eyes and saw not the tribe, but an army of spirits. She fell to the ground, unconscious.
Ivory’s eyes fluttered.
“She’s waking up,” a voice said softly from beside her. She opened her eyes and looked around her. She was surrounded by a mass of people. There was the elder woman, Michael the healer, the chief, Heath and her parents Ian and Perl.
Ivory tried to lift herself from the ground, but she was pushed back down by Michael.
“Don’t move child,” Michael exclaimed. Ivory looked around, trying to get a grip with her surroundings.
“What happened?” she whispered. She looked at the elder woman then at her parents. Perl was beside her, stroking her hair back from her forehead.
“We were hoping that you could tell us. What did the spirits say to you? Start from the beginning” the elder woman asked, lines for worry creased her forehead.
Ivory cleared her throat. “Well, you told me to clear my mind, so I did. Then I opened my eyes and the spirits where there. They said things. Showed me things,” She repressed a shudder. “They said ‘She will rise again. She will resurrect us and we will follow her until the end.’”
“Who will rise again?” Heath asked impatiently. The elder woman shot him and annoyed glance.
Ivory swallowed, a mixture of confusion and fear showed in her bright green eyes. “The Queen of Bones.”
The elder woman took in a sharp breath. “No!!! It can’t be!! ”
“What? What do you mean?” Ivory asked, sitting up. She pushed away her mothers hands.
“Well, its quiet obvious, isn’t it?” Heath said. Everyone turned to look at him.
“What’s obvious?” Ian asked.
“She’s making it up for attention. There is no such thing as ‘The Queen of Bones’” he scoffed.
