Golden
Zurak stood on a boulder near camp with Oshi in her arms and
watched the shifting play of brilliant colors on the clouds as the sun
set. It was cold outside, almost
mid-winter, but they were both warm in their furs and they now lived around a
cluster of hot springs, so no snow had crept up on the tribe. She could not name all the colors that she
saw, but Zurak tried her best as she taught her son the Wanderer words for
crimson, orange, yellow and purple.
Oshi was not yet two and still burbled more than talked, but
it was the way of the Wanderers and Zurak had been telling him everything she
knew. The sunsets in the Golden Land Golden Land
There were mighty rivers everywhere, some were wide and slow
moving, tinged in dark green and hiding evil demons beneath their placid
surfaces. Others rushed furiously
through canyons and over rocks, frothy white, churning madly in the spring melt
and consuming all in their paths. There
were rolling foothills that burst out into seas of color when the winter passed
and turned golden brown as the rain stopped falling; there were wide valleys
full of birds and tall reeds swaying in the breeze.
It was a land full of trees and animals, a land of plenty
and it had welcomed Zurak. There had
been challenges, many challenges and every day she had had to protect and feed
herself with no help. But there had
always been food, there had always been some shelter and there had been Taeyo. Much had been taken away from Zurak when her
family died in the shipwreck, but much had been given in return.
Her vision the night of the Zonate ritual was never far from
Zurak’s mind though, it was what had brought the tribe here. Elune had taken Zurak past a series of
landmarks until they reached an enormous cave near the base of a smoking
mountain. The geyser had been pointing
in this direction and that was all Zurak really had to offer as proof, but
everything else she had seen in the vision, she had seen with her waking eyes
too.
Everything but the cave itself, Zurak’s memory of that was
blurry and she only remembered that it was very, very big with a stream running
through it and three chambers. The Well
of Provenance was in the last chamber and it had to be claimed for Elune, so
that she would be bound to the Golden
Land
She was still confident, but it was wavering now and then as
days went by. The men could only go out
and look when the weather was favorable, it had been a mild winter so far but
that could always change quickly. They
had built a strong shelter and had plenty of food for the winter, so there was
no danger; and there was always plenty to do around camp. Zurak spent her days tending the fires,
cooking, weaving and all the other necessities of life while Churashom and the
stronger men went looking for the cave.
They were usually back within two days and Zurak was
lingering on the rock in the hopes that she would hear Churashom coming up the
path. He had left early the previous
morning and Zurak very much preferred sleeping next to his warm body with their
son cradled between them. Her ears
caught the light crunching of snow under feet, Zurak called out and was greeted
by Churashom’s voice.
Oshi reached out for his father as soon as he came into view
and Zurak scrambled off the boulder to meet the explorers. They were all smiling broadly, especially
Churashom as he held his arms out to both of them.
“We found you a very big gold rock for Elune,” he said
taking Zurak into his arms and squeezing her.
The other three men laughed, Zurak looked over Churashom’s
shoulder to see his brother Nohalik holding a large rock streaked with layers
of gold and white crystals.
“We found it in a very big cave for Elune,” Nohalik offered.
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