SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 5: The Stone Age

I need to leave this place. It is time to explore the remote regions of SkyGod's domain so that I can find a more habitable shelter for our growing collective.

When I leave, do not expect me to return for at least one month. But know this, my brethren: you possess all of the necessary qualities and talents to survive without me: Respect and honour for Mother Earth, ability to heal each other, and self-forgiveness.

Always remember your roots while you move forward in life.

Final entry from the personal journal of Gadi Reyes, @ 2055, five years after the establishment of the Survivor tribe.

Chapter 5: The Stone Age

Huddled around the stone sculpture of the Original Survivor, Gadis the Great, the thirteen contestants sized up each other. At age sixteen, Ravis stood the tallest of the boys. His lean muscular frame did not faze the much shorter boy named Regis.

"Hey Ravis. You see this statue? It is made from basalt which like your blade, comes from underground volcanic eruptions. The gold found in the warrior vest that goes along with the first-place prize can be found in that hard rock." Then he gave the shaka hand sign to Ravis.

Ravis returned the shaka gesture perfunctorily. His mouth agape, he gawked at a red-headed girl on the other side of the statue, barely noticing Regis.

"So Ravis, don't forget. If you erupt like a volcano, then perhaps you could spew some of your 'hard stone qualities' for the other competitors to use: your hard head, hardened heart, hard-up luck, hard knocks, and hard to come by smile. Then one day, there could be a sculpture of your pretty face that adorns this place."

Ravis looked down at Regis and without blinking, uttered his tactical phrase somewhere between a threat and a rhetorical question.

"Maybe I should knock your teeth out with my hard fists? Then the rest of the competitors would vote me King of the Games for shutting your pie-hole."

Suddenly, the director of the Games, Elder Bullis, sounded a long toot from blowing forcefully on a hollowed out ram's horn. Then he announced:

"The Games are about to begin. Contestants, line up behind me. I will raise my right arm above my head. When I drop my right arm, that is your signal to launch your stone at the primary target. Once that target is struck, only then can you proceed on the course to the second target which is at twice the distance from your launching spot. Once the second target is struck, you may proceed to the final target which is at three times the distance of the first target. Elder Ferris will keep track of the elapsed time. Once sixty drips of water has exited from the elution column, then he will blow on the ram's horn signaling the end of your round."

Being the last to enrol in the Games, Ravis stood at the back of the line. He carried his wartis in his right hand and his helmet in the left. Immediately in front of him stood the red-headed girl who he had been staring at moments ago.

Ravis cleared his throat.

"Ahem, my name is Ravis. I have not seen you around at the Bones and Stones tournaments or at these Games before. What is your name?"

"Hi there. My name is Dreyis. I see from your family crest on your helmet that you are a Griffin. I am a Yalomis, which comes from the ancient word Yontiff in Yiddish. It means holy steam cycle. My parents tell me that when I was born, that was their holiest time."

Holy Bones and Stones, Ravis thought. He tried to imagine a life where both of his parents treated him as if he were a holy offering from Mother Earth.

Ravis noted her family crest to be a drawing of a candelabra that is missing its supporting part: three small vertical lines connected at their bottom by a long horizontal line with the middle vertical line slightly raised off of the horizontal connector.

"Your family crest looks like a W." He did not want to sound stupid so he added, "But more interesting for sure."

Ravis noticed her hazel eyes jump out of her face when she opened them wide. The contrast between her cream-coloured skin and his pink-red complexion was matched by the differences in their temperament. Dreyis appeared at ease, as if she felt no pressure squeezing on her head or heart. Conversely, his heart beat erratically and he lost his breath when speaking with her. His head throbbed and his fingers lost feeling where he was clutching his helmet too tightly.

"Is this your first Stone Arena competition?" He queried without pausing to breathe. Then his heart raced faster and he knelt down at her feet.

"Oh yes it is my first time here." Then she looked at him kneeling.

"I know that I may resemble Queen Elizabeth the first from antiquity, but you don't need to kneel at my feet. I won't throw you in the dungeon. At least not yet." She winked at him.

Ravis composed himself, drew a deep abdominal breath, then rose up. As he did, his eyes followed Dreyis' female curves. Finally, their eyes met again.

Smiling now, he explained: "I needed to rest before I compete since on my way here, I took the shortcut through the Sea of Salinity with my friend Flavius who unfortunately twisted his leg. So I had to carry him part of the way."

"What a great friend you are, Ravis." She smiled back at him. "Are you skilled with the wartis?"

"Yes, I am. I learned from my father and Elder instructors."

"Oh, is your father a warrior?"

"No." Ravis hesitated to say anymore about his father. He did not want to focus on him now. He felt a heat flush his face and a coldness grip his heart. He wondered if diminutive and mouthy Regis had correctly described his heart.

"What about hand-to-hand combat? Is that your strength too?"

"I can hold my own," he thumped his wartis on the ground, kicking up some dust.

She scanned his frame and noticed he leaned to the left when standing.

"How come you lean to the left when you stand?"

"Drey, may I call you that? I was born with a mild right hip dislocation so I favour my left side when I walk and run. What about you? Do you have any baby stories that you'd like to share?" He winked at her playfully.

"My parents tell me that I came out feet first, ready to run and kick. My Mother and I love gymnastics while my Father and I sprint and share a love of wartis launching."

Ravis noticed that Dreyis smiled as she referenced her parents. He felt his legs buckle and his mood shift downward as if his knees had been chopped with an axe from behind while some unseen force had landed onto his shoulders, weighing him down. Then he noticed that she was next in line.

"You are next in line. May Mother Earth guide your stones to fly true and good luck to you."

"Same to you Rave." Then she showed him the sign-of-the-horns hand gesture, moved next to the Elder at the starting line, and crouched with her wartis cocked over her right shoulder.