SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 2: The Balancing Act

Chapter 2: The Balancing Act

Each step away from the caves caused Sabis to shrink deeper into a darkened mood.

"Where was I supposed to go now?"

He did not want to disappoint the Elders, his friends, his family and most of all, he wanted to honour the memory of his late Father, 'may the ashes of his bones bring life to the new generations'. Could he be a hero and return with the power to heal the great affliction?

For the last two generations of Survivors, when a male reaches the age of around thirty and a female around forty, they would begin to complain of forgetfulness, followed by confusion and an inability to walk straight. At first, the tribal Shaman used a poultice made of copper-infused pika intestinal mesh. When that did not do anything, he had ill members drink bear urine mixed into an alturia root tea. Once confusion had set in, the member would typically succumb to the affliction in seven to fourteen steam cycles. Unfortunately, in more recent times, there have been a greater number stricken down and at younger ages. So, future generations of Survivors depended on the success of his quest.

All twelve Elders unanimously decided that Sabis had the 'bones and stones' to survive the harsh climate and perils of SkyGod's domain so that he could find a cure for this mind-wrecking, body-crippling, and ultimately fatal affliction.

In the before-time, Mother Earth possessed an abundance of fiery caves that burned with heat as well as primeval forests that bore offspring called 'fruit of the vine'. Mother Earth's core was born in these fires and yet She was able to tame those fires to produce forests, food, animals and eventually humans. In these ancestral forests and perhaps among the ancient bone burial grounds, it was said that there could be found a cure for any affliction. When SkyGod, the source of all fire, energy, and heat above the ground, decided to punish humans for their arrogance, it moved away from its usual place in the sky to stay low on the horizon. This way, it provided only enough warmth to sustain a limited surface existence. The resulting climatic and geographic upheavals forced humans to seek refuge from the frigid surface conditions, move away from the ancient burial grounds, and continue their existence closer to Mother Earth's embrace─under the ground.

But that was then. Now, in the after-time, Mother Earth still remained under the influence of the SkyGod and her submission to SkyGod's wrath forced the Survivor tribe to reside in the warmer and darker caves. SkyGod's icy and desolate surface did not grow abundant vegetation, whereas in the caves, there grew a variety of species suitable for consumption and making clothes.

Periodic warrior forays into the ritual hunting grounds, located between the home caves and SkyGod's domain, did provide an assorted variety of animal meat and hides, edible fruit, and usable wood from certain non-poisonous shrubs and trees. These animal arboreal resources were harvested for food, medicinal preparations, and parchment.

The Shaman's wife, Lourdis, would smile and perform a ritual dance every time a warrior delivered another plant species or tree bark that she could either grind up, extract oil from, or combine with an already existing therapy to create a new concoction.

Being a female tribe member and wife of the Shaman, Lourdis held a high status in the tribe. In her own right, she was a Shamanka. Both she and her husband, Shaman Hurlis, provided comfort, cure, and consolation to the Survivor tribe family. Hurlis had apprenticed as a young Shaman at the early age of nine. At that age, he would spend his spare time studying botany, biology, chemistry, psychology, and theology. His training with the elder Shaman Otis, whom he would eventually replace, consisted of learning how to diagnose ill members, feeling their illness, prescribing a spiritual and physical healing plan, and following up on his patients.