The Gods Among Us

Chapter 24 - Sabatta Was Finished. Indeed

Sabatta was finished. Indeed, it had taken so long that a new day rose and no one fell asleep. The Peacocks now numbered many, maybe more. No one ate them because they are our alarm when something approaches. The trouble is to get them to spread out into smaller groups. They like to gather in one area or another, but they always move. I hate them.

After everyone had left and gone home, I lay down to sleep tired as I was. When I woke, the Sun was dipping below the horizon and Johnny was tending to the Eternal Fire.

Here Pappy, I've cooked you some meat, and there are plenty of onions for you to eat.

I love onions and wild mushrooms, and Johnny had also roasted these for me. I sat up to stretch and headed off into the fen to wash and rinse my teeth. Most people these days think I am crazy for rinsing my teeth with my urine but it is how I have kept them so long. Look at Julie who taught me the practice. She died with all but three of hers. The taste is not good, but after a while you get used to it. Of course, I rinse with water as well. But I am getting old, and when I took my first bite of meat, I felt a tooth loosen. I pried it out and threw it into the fire, but Johnny quickly dug it out with a stick and stuck it into his pouch. I can't imagine what he does with it.

Kamrasi, before he died, used to tell his story on the Sabatta. And we learned that also. And it was on the next Sabatta that I began to tell his story.

. . . .

Kamrasi and his expedition, I started again, made the trip to the Basindi Tribe in less time than he thought it would take. He had planned on a full season. He may never have admitted to anyone, least of all to himself, that he was a bit nervous traveling as quickly as we did to Egup. The sooner he reached his goal the easier he'd feel.

The river began to narrow the further south they went. Huge rock outcroppings were exposed after centuries of flooding had eroded the topsoil. Among these rocks small bodies of water gathered, some forming lakes, some wetlands, and some became part of the river's natural dams. In times of flood, they formed huge rapids where water would careen over them reaching sometimes forty feet in height. But now the Zoe River was tame and slow-moving. Years of no rain brought a new environment where only the strongest would survive. The falls to which Kamrasi headed, and which his brother Riangi had just discovered were at one time powerful and truly grand.

Kamrasi knew only that this river led to the Basindi clan who lived by a large lake. There the cannibals lived side by side with large Long Toothed Cats and they would hunt for food and trophies. They trained the cats - he had heard as a little boy - and would ride them through the forest killing small children and women who wandered off from home.

So it was one day on their journey that Kamrasi was telling this story to some of the younger men who accompanied him, who helped escort the girls they were to trade for precious stones, long teeth, hematite, and azurite, and other minerals widely prized for their color.

The lake is so big, he said to young Sinomi and Matusi, that the fish are the size of buffalo. But they dare not kill these because they eat the dragons that live under the Fire Mountain. When the sky lights up red and angry the dragons emerge from their... But before he could finish his sentence, a young boy came along the path towards them screaming. He was crying. The girl, he said, a dragon grabbed her into the river.

What happened boy? Kamrasi said. But the boy had already turned and ran back. Kamrasi ran after him with Sinomi and Matusi behind. The other women were all screaming, running helplessly trying to grab a hold of their friend. But the crocodile already began to roll and toss the girl through the water. One of her arms landed on the ground by the boy's feet. He jumped back.