The Gods Among Us

Chapter 41 - The Winds Had Passed

The wind had passed leaving ash and cinders behind. Everything had been covered looking strangely like shadows of what used to be. Groaning sounds slowly came from many of these grey things. Some of them moved. Many lay still. One sprouted eyes as it lifted itself up. It was Junga, spitting the dirt out of his mouth.

Everything he could see had been covered by stony silt - black as the sky above. A voice woke him, prompting him to get up.

It was Yellow Face screaming for her friends. There could be no doubt in his mind now that this woman who had lived with his Clan for so long was indeed the Great Spirit. She controlled the fiery mountain and the Valley of Death that had been his home. He cursed himself for angering her. Perhaps he shared too many of their secrets with her. He should never have shown her how they use fire. Her fire. How his father and he learned from their elders this secret and its values in keeping the village safe from the night spirits. How many times had a spirit disguised as a long-toothed cat tried to sneak into the village only to be chased out by people wielding burning sticks? They knew its virtues in keeping evil away, unlike my father's clan, who believed that fire drew evil.

There she stood, alone on the brink of the falls, and then as he shook the soil from his face and looked again, she disappeared with her child at her breast over the precipice.

No time to worry about her now, Junga thought. This had to be all her doing. She brought the mountain to life. He watched them both approach the falling water, his holy sanctuary. Ordinarily, they would have been killed immediately and eaten later, but she wasn't an ordinary person. She was fair, she was tall, and she was the color of the Great Spirit in the sky. 

After she left the cave, he ran back to his father to tell him about some strange creature that had entered the cave and what should they do. Mutanga the Fat remained calm. After all, as the shaman, he had great power. But Dada, Junga said, she is not like any other person we have seen. We should stop them from coming here.

The Great Spirit, Mutanga spoke to his son,  was tossed into the sky by the giants many lives ago, and became the bright life-giver. Beware and understand, we cannot look upon this Spirit lest we become blind. That is the test. My father's father's father tried and was blinded, and he fell into the fire of the Mountain.  

Junga became angry and told his father he had been gathering mushrooms for the ceremony when he spotted her high up on the plateau with an Outsider. He watched them, followed them, careful not to be seen. Who were these people? This was not the first man he had seen from the outside, tall and strong. His Clan had had dealings with them many times before; the weak ones they were called, the stupid ones, the Outsiders. They provided his people with slaves, raw materials, and leather. But the woman with him was different. and he brought them into his village after Mutanga was drowned. 

He told the elders about her. He convinced them she was the Great Spirit. And time proved him right; The death of Mutanga, the baby being born white, and now the great firestorm. Here was the reason for the Mountain's awakening.

Now, he had to save his people from certain death. His head throbbed. Touching it, he felt a lump the size of a guava. Blood and hair covered his hand. He stood and looked around. Kitquanna, he yelled at the dusty lumps. Many of them were already moving, little eyes appeared and shook off the black dust. He helped others to their feet. But Kitquanna didn't answer. His oldest son lay covered in blood pierced through the chest by a stone. It was black and smooth, and shiny like the lake at Sunset. The place was scattered with these stones. Junga knelt by his son mourning his death.

Then he stood, and brushing the ash and cinders from his face looked for his weapon, but there was too much dust and too little time. He went from one lump to another shaking them awake. Many had died - his son, Kitquanna, his captain too. Others were going to retrieve the prisoners, but Junga stopped them.