Ember of a New World (8 page)

Dark Rock paused, thinking he caught sight of something moving in the sky, but took little note of it. Returning his attention to the events at hand, he looked Yellow Flowers up and down with exagge
r
ated movements
meant to be seen clearly by the tribe. He “noticed” her wide hips and budding female features with a grunt here and a nod there. With a shrug he look
ed back at Morning Dew.

“I have looked more closely, and young Yellow Flowers has bloomed into a woman. Come see for yourself, Dew, and read her signs that we may pro
nounce her a woman.”

With that ritual proclamation, Morning Dew strode forward and touched Yellow Flowers' head as she babbled in some unknown la
n
guage, looking intently at things only she could see. Within moments she looked at Yellow Flowers
and began her pronouncements.

“Before me stands no girl! This is Yellow Flowers, a woman of the people. By the next Lunar Festival, you should come wearing a fully beaded gown of
your own design. Now go forth!”
Yellow Flo
w
ers hugged Morning Dew and strode off with her new task in mind. Ember considered the impressive task Yellow Flowers had been gi
v
en. The task of creating a
single
bead took
the better part of a day
of grinding shells or tiny stones with sharp stone tools and sand gra
n
ules. Before the stones could even have their holes ground
,
they had to be smoothed with oil, leather, and sand. The thought of so many beads made Ember's hands reflexively clench.

My outfit will still look better,
she thought. Ember's mind was taken back to current events as she heard her nam
e spoken in full by Dark Rock.

“Ember, daughter of East and the warrior Winterborn, fallen in battle ten seasons past; I have watched you dance and sing at ritual. You have brought me more flint and strange stones than any other girl, or boy for that matter. What brings you to the circle this night?” With the theatrics only an elder would use, Dark Rock moved forward and examined Ember as he had Yellow Flowers. He poked her shou
l
der and made a few odd noises.

“Hmm, I see...
”
he said, before standing back and giving Mor
n
ing Dew a level gaze.

“Dew, please come and see if my eyes are working this night for I thought I saw the girl Ember, but this is sur
e
ly a woman standing before me.”

Dew moved forward and placed her hands upon Ember's head to start her typical act when a bright light caught everyone's attention. The dark of the night was shattered by the sudden appearance of a strange a wondrous object. In the sky above, a bright light appeared with a sudden radiance and a glowing tail behind it as it soared across the dark sky. The light was bright white in the center with green and red pieces coming off as it flew across the sky. Everyone had seen a star fall, though no one knew why they did. This was more like a
burning arrowhead streaking across the sky, and faster than anyone thought possible!

As
the red and green falling star
blazed along the sky, it suddenly became significantly brighter. The light became more orange-red and nearly blinding. So much brighter, larger, and close was this falling star than normal! The sight was breathtaking and frightening to many. Some of the people dropped to their knees, genuflecting in awe while others prayed and chanted to the Gods for mercy. Most screamed while Morning Dew merely stared at the sight. Ember watched the bright streak fly over her with a sense of for
eboding
.

Well, that is just great... It had to be now, and the colors had to be red and green. Great... I'll get stuck making the largest bead ever or killing a wolf with only my hands or something for this...
, Ember thought sarcastically as she let go a great sigh. As the tribe stared, the light flew across the sky from one end to the other heading in a wes
t
erly by north westerly direction in line with the Great River. The light promptly broke into many tiny pieces which disappeared ov
er the horizon. The entire tribe
stood in silence and started at the cloud trail which seemed to follow the path of the lights. For what seemed like a long moment no one said anything.

All seemed to be over for many moments, when suddenly a boom was heard, startling everyone! Ember could not imagine why she would hear a loud sound, p
resumably from the falling star
, so long after it had apparently exploded overhead. A long moment after the boom had left, many started to realize that the event was truly over. Ember sighed once more. For a few breaths, not a sound was heard. Ember stood with a slightly sad i
f not resigned look about her.

The silence was broken as Morning Dew, calm throughout the entire encounter, suddenly let loose a cackling scream and fell to her knees before Ember. The effect was stunning, many nearly jumping out of their skins by the sudden sound. She looked up into the night sky and babbled, much more frantically and loudly than normal, in that language only she seemed to know. After several moments of i
n
tense, “otherworldly” rant, Morning Dew slowly regained her senses and stood. She stared at Ember for a short time with an incredulous look on her face before turning, suddenly, to look upon the tribe with her arm and fingers extended.

Go on... say it, you know you want to
…
, Ember thought.

“It
was a sign!”
she proclaimed!

Here we go
,
Ember thought.

“A great sign! At the very moment I prayed to the Goddess for the correct task of womanhood, the ski
es themselves gave their will!”
Morning Dew stated.

East stood just beyond the ritual giving Ember a fearful look. B
e
fore she could consider what might come next, Morning Dew looked from Dark Rock to Ember, then back again, and started speak
ing once more.

“Ember, you are directed by the very sky and the Gods to seek a goal to the west. You will journey at first light two days from now, along the Great River by boat and seek the farthest edge of the world, many ten-days travel. There the Gods ha
ve something planned for you!”

There were gasps and looks of shock
from
all around. Ember stood with her mouth open, and a gawking stare. What was going on!? Was she not supposed to make a basket or decorate some pots? At worst she might be sent to a neighboring tribe as a wife, but a journey!? Quests and journeys were the lot of men; and only exper
i
enced hunters took on such a task at that! This was an epic quest! Ember was not alone in her thoughts as much of the tribe stood in va
r
ious states of shock.

Dark Rock turned from Ember to East and then to Morning Dew. He placed a hand on Morni
ng Dew's old shoulder.

“Are you sure of this?
This sign was seen by all, but surely this is a grave task. Perhaps there...” but Dark Rock was cut off by Mo
rning Dew's sudden
retort.

“You knew this would happen! Her father, the warrior Winte
r
born, came from the
North West
so long ago. This is the work of fate and the Gods. Are the signs not there?” Morning Dew looked at the others of t
he tribe as she made her case.

“What color was the light? What color is Ember's hair? What colors are her eyes and her clothing? Such a journey needs luck! Who has found the most flint? Who has the most of the yellow stones? What of the unusual heat and the strange crops in the western fields? She has been given a task, and she must follow it or be a child fore
v
er! This is the way!” With that final word, Morning Dew left the stunned circle and
walked towards her longhouse.

Ember had been effectively damned by those words. If she chose not to take the task she could probably be made a woman by another elder, but there would always be the stain of an unfinished task. Worse, if the harvest went badly or something unfortunate happened
within the next few seasons Ember would most likely be blamed. It would be said that she had upset the Gods.

I have to go...
, she thought...
she knew.

Ember stood very still with everyone gathered before her. The loud sound of the fire in the sky still replaying in her memory. At first she thought she might start crying but then she caught sight of East. Her mother had a mixed expression of both fear and admiration. The look took Ember in the moment and steadied her before she could cry. Instead, she just turned and walked slowly towards the safety of her longhouse. As she started passing through the throngs of people, the hunters one by one gave her a short bow of their heads, a sign of r
e
spect normally only offered to warriors and hunters. As she passed them, Ember's breast filled with pride, and she felt reborn.

Ember passed by a stunned looking Yellow Flowers without a single word. Ember was stunned, yet she felt an odd sense of amus
e
ment at the look on Yellow Flower's face. Yellow Flowers appeared to Ember like she might wet herself in shock. Somehow, that brief touch of amusement, so non-sequitur, helped Ember keep her comp
o
sure. Adrenaline and her inability to fully grasp the events of the night did the
rest.

Emerging from the people, she paused and allowed a moment to collect herself. Ember always had an odd way of looking at life. Her views were based on a sort of
self-humor
and an uncanny ability to see herself plainly and beyond her own immediate situation. Ember, sad, afraid, and generally overwhelmed, smiled to herself as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to the expect
ant people and forced a smile.

“I will journey in two
days’ time
to the ends of the world, to the west. I will face whatever the Gods have dealt me, and I will return. Until then, let the festival continue!” With her smile and the exclam
a
tion, much of the tribe let loose yells and whistles. Kanter and Blossom both ran forward and grabbed Ember in an all-too-tight e
m
brace! The night had become surreal as Ember walked in a daze. After a few moments, the three friends were walking off towards the mat wher
e the sacred drink was poured.

Ember was in too much shock by now to cry. The actual insanity of her predicament had not yet fully sunk in. Kanter gave Ember a poke in the ribs and offered what he considered his impres
sive advice.

“Now that
you’re
leaving for a while, you had better drink up t
o
night! Wouldn't want to leave withou
t a bowl full first, eh?”

Ember gave Kanter a grimace and a shake of her head, accepting a shallow clay pot with some of the precious, sacred brew. She brought it up to her lips and drank down the bitter
-sweet
drink. Fire arose in her stomach and her skin
beaded with sweat. After a
long while
of dance and drink
,
Ember started to think that she might act
u
ally succeed! Th
e drink always had that effect.

The liquid was made from water, honey,
herbs,
and some of the special porridge. If consumed too early, the liquid could make you very sick or cause your mouth to become red and irritated. Luckily, the sacred drink was always given at least two or three full moons to sit.
Ember was quite sure a squirrel would willingly attack a wolf if given enough of the fiery liquid.

It might even win
, she thought as she
lay
on a mat next to Blo
s
som and Kanter absorbing the night. As she
lay
back on the warm grass, Ember caught sight of a few more small falling stars. She laughed sarcastically.

“The Great River”, what is now called the river Rhine, has been an important waterway for European peoples for millennia. The river generally flows east to west, flowing through various parts of Europe, in some places actually flowing north, but the result is a west by north west route. The River starts in the Swiss Alps as runoff from glaciers and flows thousands of miles from Switzerland to the Netherlands, passing through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and France. As a result, many sorts of ecological environments exist around the Rhine, from thic
k forests to wide open fields.

Our heroine encounters the Rhine in what is now south western Germany near the present day city of Mannheim. As the story pr
o
gresses, so too does the river, changing from thick forests and deep valleys to wide open fields with tree covered banks. The only feature which remains is the steady flow of water and travelers. The Rhine has cut deeply into the land a
nd into the hearts of humanity.

To navigate such a mighty river, people need boats. Boats were very difficult to produce by Neolithic peoples. The most advanced boat available to Ember would have been a dugout boat made pr
i
marily from a dried log. The center of the log would be dug out, hence the name, using axes and small fires. The digging leaves an inch or two of wood on each side and perhaps a little more in the bottom. The outsides would be sanded with leather and grit and the bow pointed. Such boats were heavy and not easy to maneuver. Ember would have had quite a struggle keeping such a boat in a straight line on a river. Unfortunately, the boat was also the fastest way downstream, perhaps twice as fast as walking, and without fear of animals. Rivers may have been used as, and in lieu of, roads in this way, though we may never know for sure.

Ember awoke the next morning with a throb in her head. She was lying on a mat with a deer hide loosely across her. Her dress had been removed and hung on the wall nearby. Ember looked around and n
o
ticed East by the hearth cooking some sort of meal.

Breakfast!
she thought. Her w
its came to her slowly as she shook off the sleep and a pounding ache in her head. Breathing deeply brought the warm smell of breakfast, filling her with hunger. Ember vaguely recalled staggering into the house and removing her dress, then falling flat on the mat. Apparently
,
East had found her and helped her to bed. Ember was still wearing her anklets and the nec
k
lace, and her skin was still stained quite blue.

“I see you're awake,
” said East in a stern tone, causing Ember to flinch when she turned, but the look on her mother's f
ace was calm and a little sad.

“If I were about to do what you are set to do, I would have been just as you were when I found you last night
.
” East gave her daughter a smile and brought forth a wooden tray with
food and sat it beside Ember.

The wooden tray had a reed basket full of roasted game bird meat with salt and a few small tubers with a sauce of wild onions and salt, mixed with the drippings of the birds. Ember was surprised both by the fancy breakfast and by the way her mother was treating her. E
m
ber sat back and ate her breakfast, quite hurriedly as East sat beside her with a worried
look. When
she was finished, Ember put aside the tray and started to speak, but before she could
,
East interrupted her with her hand held outward and start
ed to speak.

“These many seasons have been hard for both of us Ember. Life is never how we expect it to be. If you do not follow the will of the Elders, know that I will always love you.” She placed her hand on Ember's head and gently stroked he
r hair in silence for a while.

“I know mother, but what if the harvest fails? What if the Gods real
ly do want me to go?”

East wanted to say something profound to her daughter, som
e
thing that would fix everything and make her feel like she was helpful in some way. This was one of the moments when a mother was su
p
posed to give her daughter advice and make everything better. All she could do was stroke her
daughter’s
hair, with one ever so slightly quivering hand. In her heart, she had long ago given up hope in the Gods..., after her husband had fallen. He had been killed by raiders so suddenly that she had never had a chance to say goodbye
if she ever really could have.

Winterborn was so much like his daughter. He had long red hair and those same green eyes. East used to sit and listen to him speak his funny musings of life. He was so adamant to fix the wrongs of the world, the injustice, the pains, to the glory of the Gods. The Gods didn't help him as he
lay
on the ground with an arrow in his chest. Now, they supposedly schemed to take her one and only child.

East kept her thoughts to herself. Ember believed in the will of the Gods and held them in her heart with a sense of wonder. It was that same need for goodness she had first seen in her beloved Winte
r
born's eyes. East wanted so many times to say what she thought, but those green eyes of her daughter held too much innocence to taint with her own secret grief. In the end, she knew what Ember would choose. Ember had a part of Winterborn's spirit within her, and she would travel to the ends of the world. It was just her nature. This time
,
East would have a chance to say goodbye. As though she could read East's mind
,
Ember turned and looked at her mother
with a sudden streak of tears.

“I will come back. It might take a few seasons, but I will return. You saw the sign, the whole wo
rld saw it...”

“I know Ember. You had better get cleaned up and prepare you
r
self if you are to do as the Elders say
,”
East said with a smile barely holding her composure. Ember gave her a hug, which caused
whate
v
er
East used to keep her face neutral to fade. Ember scampered off with her clothing to the river to clean and prepare for the day. As she left the house, East fell forward and burst into sobbing tears of unco
n
trollable pain and grief. East remained in the back of the longhouse for the first part of that day. She
lay
sobbing for a long time.

We are our own Gods and our fates change with the winds,
she thought.

Ember walked down to the river wrapped in a deer hide, not wanting to soil her clothing. The Great River was free of most people when she arrived. Off in the distance some of the women could be seen gathering tubers and berries for the midday meal. Ember knelt in the soft sand and ran her hands through her long hair while holding her head back with her eyes shut. She slowly cleaned herself by the river and then donned her normal clothing of a flax skirt and doe skin shirt. Ember would be leaving the next morning for a journey too wild and sudden to be real. Of all of the thoughts which danced in her head, one stood before the rest: Ember had better say goodbye to her friends and family.

I'll be returning within a season or three, so it's not a big deal
, she thought. Deep down Ember wondered how truthful she was being with herself. She quickly shook the feelings away and walked towards the front side of the village were Blossom's family lived. She would need to spend some time with her cousins and perhaps even go for one last swim before return
ing home.

As Ember came upon the longhouse
,
she spotted Blossom and Kanter sitting on a log bench talking. Kanter noticed Ember immediately and w
aved at her with a wide smile.

“Ember! Come on over h
ere and see what Blossom has!”

Blossom was sitting with her back somewhat turned towards Ember. She became angry, or so her
body language indicated, by
placing her hands on her hips in an angry sort of way. Ember couldn't see her face, but she could h
ear Blossom's yelling, easily.

“Kanter! I told you to keep quiet! I don't know why I tell you any
thing,
” Blossom ranted, suddenly turning upon Ember and standing. Her tone and expressions changed, too quickly, from angry to happy. She was too “innocent” looking. Something was amiss, but her hands were behind her back. Kanter was staring with anticipation. Ember
already
had enough of a smug look that Blossom was unable to retain
and
her
mock
innocent demeanor.
Before Ember could voice any objections,
Blossom
swung her hands forward thrusting them int
o Ember's face quite suddenly.

“Here! I h
ave a present for the journey!”
Blossom said. She opened her hands to reveal a Goddess pendant made of deer antler. Goddess figurines were quite common to have in a home as they provided blessings, though Ember thought them more likely ornamental. The little pendant was the size of a man's thumb and intricately carved with a hole fo
r a leather thong.

“My mother gave it to me when I was young
,”
she continued.

“But, I can't take this, it's special and...
”
but Blossom countered Ember's worr
ies with an outstretched hand.

“Take it! When you return, you can bring it back with you and with my present from far away! You are bringing us gifts
,
right?”
Blossom finis
hed with an inquisitive smile.

Ember wanted to point out that she might not return... The thought had occurred to her the night before, and again that morning by the river, but
she had been ignoring it.

“I...
”
Ember stuttered.

Ember was interrupted now by Kanter seizing on the moment to add his opinions,

“You'll only be gone a season or two. Next warm season you will be back with stories to tell! You will be as respected as the hunters, maybe more. You'll immediately be in line to become an elder... but that will take a while. I bet that...
”

“Kanter!”
Blossom interrupted before he could go off into a tangent of some species.

“He's right though, you'll be back soon enough
,”
B
lossom said.

“I guess... I wonder what the
end of the horizon looks like?”
Ember wondered aloud, changing the subject. Ember wondered if the world merely ended or even started anew. She was brought back to reality as Kanter started openly pondering the same qu
estions... in his own odd way.

“I bet there are giant bear people, or talking fish, at least
,”
Ka
nter said matter-of-factly
.

With that the three friends spent much of the rest of the day talking and saying goodbye in their own ways. As the evening came, Ember, Kanter, and Blossom visited each of Ember's cousins and friends. The village was actually a little larger than Ember had recalled, but she rarely visited each of her extended family all in the same day. When Ember finally walked to her longhouse
,
she was quite tired and in need of rest. She had waved a huge good-bye to her friends, smiles all around and spent every last moment around them. Ember now took careful inventory of her memories, as she approached the hide door, ensuring that she could fully remember each face. She hoped she would see them again.

As Ember opened the hide door, the tasty smell of a vast array of foods slammed into her nose. Before her, Ember's entire immediate family sat laughing and starting a grand meal. That night Ember, East, Na Na, Heather and Vance, her cousins Red Flowers, Fox, and their parents, all sat around the longhouse main hearth eating the large meal. East had made it a point to make Ember one last huge dinner, and everyone had helped. Ember was known for her love of food, and might not eat well for many days to come. This was a good chance to “fatten her up”, the family had thought. Na Na had even guilt-ed one of the village women, whose husband was a consummate hunter, into giving up a fully roasted deer rump and legs.

The deer provided enough meat for everyone to have their fill. East had made boiled lentils and salt with roasted tubers, a sauce of chopped turnips, deer liver, salt, coriander imported from the south, and mashed peas. For dessert, roasted
early nuts, a nut which was harvested in the warm season
. East only had a small pot of coriander for which she had traded ten blue dyed clay beads. The use of exotic spices from the south and east was reserved for only the most important events. To East, this was worth the trade. The family dined
,
talked
,
an
d laughed long into the night.

As the family settled in for the night, East was left again stroking Ember's hair as her daughter drifted to sleep beside her. East was worried, deeply worried. Perhaps her daughter would return, even if it took many seasons. If any woman could brave the world were only men tread, it would be her Ember. She was so much like her father. East wept again that night.