It started to rain. Large cold drops fell on us. I rolled over and joyfully opened my mouth skyward, grateful for any moisture that might hit my tongue. The rain disguised the tears that ran down my face.
I looked over at Twee who seemed to be sleeping. Tentatively I reached out my hand and took hold of her wrist, my clumsy fingers searching for a pulse. When I felt its gentle thump my heart sang. I was not alone.
I turned, lifting myself up not expecting to see anything at all, but that’s when I noticed the massive black boulders rising into the sky. I’d seen those before. In the distance the Isle of Gods rose like an oasis from the sea.
“We’ve made it,” Twee said without ever bothering to open her eyes.
“But how?” I whispered.
“Eilim says I belong here. Wouldn’t it be natural for him to try to get me back? They’ll be waiting for us,” she said.
Chapter1 6
I could see a man and what at first seemed to be a child of about twelve standing on the sand in the driving rain. Both wore robes that clung to their bodies in the downpour. The man waded out into the surf unconcerned by the flashes of lightning around us. The child followed tentatively. The man was lanky with a sharp narrow face. His salt-and-pepper hair hung in wet shoulder-length ringlets. His skin was the color of copper. The man said nothing to me at all. He didn’t even look in my direction with his deeply set eyes. All his attention was on Twee whom he lifted from the wreckage and carried ashore.
The child was not a child but an adult woman. She was small with bones like twigs and a pale doll-like face. Her dark hair was short. She stood looking at me with almond-shaped eyes that were slightly too far apart.
“Come with us,” she said as she turned and began walking back to the sand. After a few steps she noticed that I hadn’t moved and turned to me again. “Come with us. You will be safe.”
I continued clutching the wood wondering if these people were gods and what they might do to me for kidnapping Amara. I could’ve stayed there on my bit of wood in the water until I died, but in reality there was only one choice. If I wanted to live I had to join them on the shore and hope that they would choose forgiveness over punishment.
When we made it to the shore Twee opened her eyes and put her arms around the man carrying her. She kissed his face and said, “I’m sorry. The vessel is gone.”
The man said nothing. He lowered her to the sand and walked toward the dense forest that lined the beach.
The woman rushed over, embracing Twee. “How could you leave us?” she asked.
“I’m so sorry,” Twee repeated.
As they embraced the woman eyed me suspiciously. “Who are you?” she asked, letting go of Twee and stepping toward me.
“He saved me,” Twee said, turning to me. She reached out, grabbing the woman’s arm and the woman relaxed. “He’s fine,” she said. “Let’s get out of this storm.”
The woman turned and started walking toward the trees following the man up the same well-worn path we had taken Amara from not that long ago. I stayed at the back of the pack wondering if I should run off into the woods and seek shelter of my own from the storm. Twee trusted them, but I didn’t know if I should trust them too.
Once we started up the trail between the trees the rain seemed to slow, broken by the canopy overhead. A steady stream of water rushed down the dirt across our feet. The silence between us was measured by our footsteps and the rhythmic rain. I dared not break the cadence to ask even the simplest of questions. When Twee slipped on the slick rocks at the spot where the incline made a slight increase both the woman and I came to her aid, each of us catching hold of the opposite elbow and lifting her to her feet. The man didn’t notice and continued to walk at a steady pace.
After awhile the path opened up into a clearing where a semi-circle of dome-shaped huts made from sticks and clay faced the storm with unflinching strength. Their doors, covered only with animal skins as protection from the elements, faced the center of the circle where a large long hut stood. This was not the city of the gods that I heard about as a boy. Reznik really was describing the gods when he talked about a village of round grass huts. This was a village much more primitive than any place I’d ever been. There were no golden streets or spacious halls where the gods met to discuss the fate of the world. I’d always pictured large white marble buildings supported by grand columns. The majestic lives of the immortals was not what I saw here. These were small simple buildings that would be occupied by simple people and I wondered if we were on the Isle of Gods at all. The wind whipped by us bringing down a branch only a few feet from where we stood with a mighty crash. I jumped forward startled by the sound, but I was the only one who seemed to even notice the danger we were in. The man turned and leaning toward the woman and Twee said something. I tried to move closer to hear, but by the time I got close enough he was done speaking. Twee and the woman took off running into the clearing, their drenched clothing pushed against them even more by the force of the wind. I started after them, but the man grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“You come with me,” he said. His voice drove into my core. When he spoke it was as if all other sound around me didn’t exist. The rain, the wind, the animals scurrying in the treetops, they all seemed to have stopped in that moment.
“But …” I started to protest, but his dark eyes burrowed into me and I knew I had no choice. Sure I could’ve run into the wood and tried to find shelter from the storm beneath the trees, but how long would I have to run? If they were indeed gods how long could I expect to hide from them? Even if I knew they were coming they could find me. After all no matter what abilities I had that deemed me special in the outside world I was only one mortal man.
The man bowed his head and walked into the curtain of rain, his steps slow and steady as his sandaled feet squished through the muddy grass. It felt unsettlingly natural to follow him. We cut a path through the storm with our bodies until we got to the long hut in the center of the field. He pulled the animal-skin flap covering the door open and I entered the dark hut.
“Wait here,” he said before closing the flap, leaving me standing in an empty room. A narrow stream of faded light leaked in under the skin that acted as a door along with a steady spray of rain making a puddle on the smooth dark floor. I stood there for a moment in the darkness waiting for my eyes to adjust. I didn’t know how long I would be waiting or what I was waiting for.
I took a few steps, moving my feet out of the steady spray of rain coming in at the doorway. My wet clothes gripped my skin, rubbing it uncomfortably. I stood dripping on the floor wondering if there was anything in this room that I could dry off with. I don’t know how long I stood there, my eyes focused on the door, waiting for someone to return. It didn’t take long for me to notice how tired I was. My arms and legs began to feel heavy with fatigue. My eyelids drooped, but my mind remained alert. The drumming of the rain and the restless wind agitated my thoughts. I knew that no matter how exhausting this day had been I needed to be ready to defend myself from whatever might be coming my way. I couldn’t let my life end on this island without seeing Lourdes and Tatiana again.
Eventually the flap across the door flew open and a dark figure draped in a cape made from animal hides entered the hut. The figure’s face was obscured by a hood. This person was not tall enough to be the man that met us on the beach and not short enough to be the woman. The figure trudged across the room into the darkness without saying a word. Suddenly there was a bright light as if the sun had been dropped into the middle of the hut. I gasped and shielded my eyes. As quickly as the light appeared it vanished. The figure walked toward me now carrying what looked like a glowing stone the size of a grapefruit. “Here,” the figure said in a slow croaky voice that was just a little too high to belong to a man.
I reached out and took the stone from her tentatively. It was warm to the touch.
She removed her hood to reveal her full round face. She had olive skin and hair as white as sea foam
. “You can use this for light. If you want darkness just cover it with something. If you want more light there are others there.” She pointed to a covered wooden box at the far end of the hut. She reached under her cape and pulled out a sack also made from an animal skin. “I brought you something dry to wear.” She reached into the sack and pulled out a cream-colored robe, the same type of robe that the woman and man who brought me here had worn. “You will sleep here tonight. Pile the cushions together to make a bed.” She pointed at a stack of flat red and green cushions that were about three square feet each. “This is for you.” She pulled a thin quilt from her sack and placed it on the floor next to her. “I also thought you might be hungry and thirsty.” She took a hardened gourd from her bag and handed it to me. Water sloshed around inside and the end was plugged with a cork. “Right now I only have fruit to give you, but in the morning you will eat breakfast with all of us.” She placed the whole sack on the floor without showing me the fruit inside. “If you need to …” she paused. “If you need to relieve yourself go in the wood well away from the path for now.”
“Okay,” I said.
She took a moment to examine my face. “They didn’t tell me about your wound. I would’ve brought something for it if I’d known.”
I reached up to touch it. The scab was hard and tight. “I think it’s fine. It doesn’t really hurt.”
“Good,” she said. “Is there anything else you’ll need for the night?”
“Who are you?”
She smiled and the lines on her face deepened. “I am Herthe, Damek.”
I stepped backward stunned. With my index finger I drew a circle on my chest and said, “From eternity to eternity and always.” I bowed my head, but she caught me by the arm before I could kneel on the ground at her feet.
“There is no need for that,” she said.
“But you are second only to …”
“Second?” she said as if she did not know. “I know not what all that talk about eternity is that you just did, but I do know that it is late and I’d like to go back to bed. Sleep and in the morning we will talk.” She pulled the hood up over her head and went back out into the driving rain.
I felt a reverent awe that I never expected. I had just met Herthe. Some liked to say that she was in many ways more important and more powerful than Eilim. I wasn’t one of those people, but I knew many who were. The funny thing was that she didn’t seem any different from anyone else I’d met. So far the gods seemed more like mortals than not and this place was not what I expected, primitive huts, the simple clothing. It was not what I expected more than ten years ago when I started my search. How did we get it so wrong all this time? Why didn’t we believe Reznik when he was telling us the truth about this island? As I drank the water and ate the fruit Herthe left for me my mind bounced between the gods and Lourdes and Tatiana. I wondered if I would ever see them again and what would become of me in the morning.
Chapter 17
“Get up.” The playful whisper was followed by a gentle nudge.
When I opened my eyes I expected to see Lourdes standing over me. I was hoping that all of this was just a dream and I’d wake up in my own house to the smell of coffee and the sound of Tatiana’s giggles. It was not a dream. Instead of Lourdes I saw the small doll-faced woman from the previous night. “We have already eaten the morning meal. Herthe asked me to wake you.”
My body wanted so badly to hold onto the comfort of sleep, but confusion roused me. I sat up slowly, aching from the ordeal of the last three days. “Where am I?” I asked.
She laughed. “You are here with us.” She gathered my pile of damp clothes in her arms. “Herthe has saved food for you. You should eat. Afterward there will be a council meeting.”
“Who are you?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
“Variel,” she said.
“One hundred and forty-seventh,” I said.
“You know us well, Damek.” She smiled brightly. “Herthe is waiting for you.” She hurried out of the hut her robes swishing behind her.
I sat there for a moment reviewing the past few days. I was overwhelmed by all that had happened so far. When I really stopped to consider it I realized that it was a miracle I was still alive. For that I was grateful and I wondered what hand Amara had in it. She was still out there somewhere. I hoped she would come to my aid again when I needed it, but even if she didn’t I could take care of myself. They had shown me nothing but kindness so far. I didn’t think I would need any protection from them, but I was sure I’d need help getting back home again. With no ship or plane, leaving would be impossible.
As soon as I stepped out into the bright light of day I heard someone call my name.
I turned and saw Herthe sitting on a log nearby.
“Come, eat.” She held out a rough wooden bowl to me. I looked around. In the sunlight I could finally get a good look at where I was. Dome-shaped huts made of mud and straw filled the large clearing. Their rough outer walls were painted a muted orange. The roofs were made of blond thatched straw. Each had a few circular windows that stared blankly across the clearing. Animal skins covered in wiry black hair hung over their arched doorways. The hut I’d spent the night in was larger than the rest. Oblong with windows along its walls, it reminded me of a primitive submarine. The doors of all of the smaller huts faced this larger one like an attentive audience.
The softest grass I’d ever felt cushioned my bare feet as I walked. Each blade was like a strand of silk. Clumps of small white wildflowers dotted the rich emerald green. I walked over to Herthe and bowed slightly to her as I took the bowl from her with both hands to show respect. She was having none of that though. She shook her head and grimaced with disapproval.
“Sit,” she said, patting the spot next to her.
“Thank you for giving me food and water last night,” I said as I sat down.
“And shelter,” she added.
“And shelter,” I repeated.
“Even though you don’t really deserve our help.” She smiled and her gray eyes sparkled.
I shifted, a feeling of discomfort rising in my chest. I was hoping that all was forgiven and that I didn’t need to say anything about it, but I, of course, was wrong. “You’re right. I don’t deserve any of this.”
My words seemed to satisfy her. She chuckled heartily and tucked her coarse gray hair behind her ears. “Don’t worry.” She touched my forearm lightly. “We won’t be too hard on you. Eilim is pleased that you brought Twee back.”
I swallowed hard. “So you really are planning to punish me in some way?”
She shook her head. “I told you not to worry. Eat your breakfast. The council meeting will start soon.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“We will all meet together to discuss the situation with Twee, Amara, and you. We meet whenever something of significance happens. That is our way.”
“All of the gods will be there?” I asked.
“Of course.” She stood up. “Eat your food. You don’t want to go to the meeting hungry.” She looked off across the field. “I have some things to attend to before the meeting starts.” She looked down at me, her eyes crinkling happily at the corners. “Don’t worry, Damek. All will be well in the end.” She walked off across the field and disappeared into a hut.
I looked down at the bowl of warm porridge in my lap. It was an off-white that seemed particularly unappealing. On any other day I wouldn’t have found it very appetizing, but I was starving. I considered disappearing into the woods with it. Actually going to the council meeting seemed like a risk, but I was curious. I wondered what it would be like to be in a room with all of the gods at once. Would there be a buzz of magic in the air? Each time I thought of running I wondered how long I could really stay hidden on such a small island.
The porridge was surprisingly pleasant. It had a sweet nutty flavor that I actually enjoyed. As I sat alone looking out at the eerily quiet village I started to wonder where everyone else was. There wer
e so many huts and I knew that someone must live in them. According to the Book of Gods there were one hundred and forty-seven immortals on this island. I’d met Variel myself and she confirmed that she was the one hundred and forty-seventh, but where were all the others?
I couldn’t believe I was sitting here in the very place where they lived. I couldn’t believe that I had met Herthe. I felt a reverence for her that I’d never expected. As a hunter of gods I was supposed to put the respect and sense of awe I’d learned from childhood behind me and look for opportunities to take them back to the mortal world. I was able to do it when we took Amara, but Amara had never really been a big player in the stories we learned. The most important of the gods were Eilim and Herthe. They were the first and second to exist. They were the ones who created all of us. I knew that no matter how strong I was I’d never be strong enough or fast enough to capture them. Not if they didn’t want to be captured. Besides I had no way to take them. I was without a boat or crew.
Twee had told me that she thought Eilim was the only one who could answer our prayers and bring us healthy babies again. I was wasting my time with Amara. Eilim could save humanity, if he wanted to. Why wouldn’t he want to? Why would he let us continue to feel so much sorrow and witness the deaths of the innocent again and again?
Isle of Gods I: Damek Page 11