SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 3: Answers Among the Gravestones

Chapter 3: Answers Among the Gravestones

He kicked hard to propel himself up onto the new landmass.

His chest and legs ached with exertion in the frigid air. With every breath, his heart pushed his cooled blood to his muscles and he started to shiver uncontrollably. His thoughts turned to Mother Earth's warm caress and he yearned for his Mother's embrace.

With his remaining energy, Sabis pulled out his steel blade and stabbed it into the ground. Then he started to move the earth to the side with his free hand. In mere moments, Sabis was lying in his newly formed earth hammock, as still as a caterpillar incubating in its cocoon, with his eyes closed. After resting in his wind-protected enclosure, he gave thanks to Mother Earth for his prized blade.

"Thank you, Mother Earth for the raw materials, blacksmiths, and heat to make this warrior blade."

In a recent innovation, the Survivor tribe had gained the ability to mine iron ore and heat it in a forge to produce steel. After hammering, shaping, and then water quenching the heated steel, the hardened blade was fitted with a solid oak handle. Since resources were limited in the caves, only warriors could wield such a prized possession.

Sabis had been awarded this hardened steel blade for his important mission. He prayed to Mother Earth:

"Mother Earth, giver of all that we cherish, please provide me with heat. Your love shall make it so. Let it be."

As he prayed, the wind above his head became still and slumber fell upon him.

As Sabis closed his eyes, he inhaled the musty scent of the earth. The aroma that pushed its way into his numbed olfactory receptors transported him back to his time in the Hall of the Ancients.

---------------------

From his OverStrata home cave, Sabis needed to circumnavigate the Sea of Fertility before he reached the nearly endless winding stone staircase that led to the Hall of the Ancients. This Hall, decorated with the names of storied heroes and tribal legends, was off-limits to uninvited tribe members. Only the twelve Elders─older men and mature women, were free to come and go and breathe the rarefied air of this place.

Musty smelling and rust-coloured earth covered the ground, along with scattered gemstones and other rare and dark stones. The walls were decorated with carvings depicting tribal history: Men carrying giant boulders on their backs, women digging the earth with shovels and pots, bone fires, and hunters tracking and killing prey. The names of the Ancient heroes were engraved into the high arch and ceiling stone with cursive writing, like calligraphic carvings. Sabis stared up at these names with awe and delight as if he were reading from some mystical and magical tome:

Covis the collector.

Eris the erudite.

Frackis the furious.

Gadis the great.

Reis the regaler.

Talis the tall one.

Weldris the warrior.

He had been taught in school that the Survivor tribe member names descend from Gadis the great. His Mother had explained that all given names resembled each other as a way of honouring the memory of and glorifying the great Gadis, the original Survivor. Whenever Sabis asked where his name came from, his Mother told him that he was named after his Abis (grandfather) called Saris. Then she would go on to say that all of our names come from Gadis:

"His namesake lives on in us and may the deeds of our members dignify his sacrifice for all of us. Let it be."

Sabis was pleased to see that his second name, Eris, was engraved into the thick stone walls.

"I hope I can live up to the legendary name of Eris the Erudite. May my actions be true to the memory of this venerated warrior. Let it be."

-----------------------

Just then the wind's prickly and long fingers reached down into his shallow earth hammock and marked his cheeks with an icy burn. He put up both of his hands to protect his exposed skin. After a moment, he lifted himself out of his temporary refuge and onto the land.

"Bite this SkyGod!" he protested as he held up his right hand using the fig sign.

"I don't need your help any more than a fish needs help to swim."

His insides squeezed and protested for food. Keeping his back turned against the icy wind, he upended his now dried knapsack and unrolled a thick fabric made from reeds and flowers, held together with bone glue. His provisions were for a warrior: dense buttons of cricket powder, liverwort paste, and mossy fungi. Cavefish might be viable to transport if smoked and dried but their scent could attract any potential predators. He greedily swallowed some of his cave rations and rolled up his cloth.

Then he stood up and marched on. SkyGod provided an eerie pinkish glow overhead. Sabis steadied his gaze on the distant and hazy horizon.

Just then, his feet connected solidly on some hard object. He tumbled forward, grazing the edge of his right shoulder tip with the corner of what felt like solid rock.

Fortunately for Sabis, the ground that he landed on was not the usual permafrost─hard wasteland that he had floated on while crossing the water divide. The point on the ground where his shoulder had contacted was softer and therefore absorbed most of the energy of his fall. This land surprisingly seemed to welcome his presence.

Despite the somewhat soft thump, Sabis gasped with the slam to his shoulder. He did not lose consciousness but his vision dimmed and the world went silent for a moment. After a few long and deep breaths, he scanned his body for damage, opened his eyes slowly, and cautiously stood up so as not to shake loose his knapsack or its belongings.

Surveying the area, he noticed stones that appeared to grow out of the ground. Figures were etched into their sides. These figures resembled each other with minor differences.

Suddenly, he no longer shivered and his shoulder ceased to ache. He felt a rising pride in himself that he could acclimatize himself to his new environment.

"The Elders chose me for a reason. They knew that I could endure track and kill expeditions for several steam cycles with only paltry provisions. I can do this."

He refocused himself and searched for hidden answers in the stone collection. Should he stay here to look around or continue on his quest? He heard a soft footfall and sensed a presence roaming within this stone collection of strange markings.

His right shoulder began to throb so he rubbed it gently with his left hand and sat down next to one stone with curious markings. RIP 2018- 2050. Sabis did not know what these markings meant. He noticed that the other stones were covered with some variation of these markings. He sat there until SkyGod lit up the heavens with a yellowish and light blue glow.

Sabis then continued moving in the direction of a thick circular and whitish protrusion in the distance.