“But I don’t know anything,” said Rhuna lowering her eyes, afraid of disappointing him.
“You merely believe that you know nothing, while in fact you know everything,” he said, lifting her chin with his finger. “Would you observe the ways of your villagers and the Masters living here, then report to me?” Rhuna nodded slowly, still unsure what was being asked of her.
“Tell me more about your home and how you got here,” she said when Tozar had nodded and sat back in his seat on the lumpy old blankets.
“It was a long voyage, but my ship was comfortable. The weather was mostly pleasant, and I watched fish of many kinds swimming and jumping between our vessels for a great distance. A delight to watch. We ate good meals and had a plentiful supply of fresh water for the duration of the entire journey. It was a good journey this time.”
“There were others with you?” Rhuna asked excitedly.
“You have a sharp mind, Rhuna. This is good. Yes, there were seven others with me on my ship, and there were twelve ships altogether journeying in this direction,” he said in a lower tone.
“Where are they? Didn’t they come with you onto land?” Rhuna’s curiosity grew.
“No, I am the only one of my shipmates on this island,” he answered simply. Then he moved and continued in a more cheerful tone.
“However, you asked about my home, and I shall answer you now,” he said. “It is located in very high mountains, much, much higher than the hillocks on this island. Among these high mountain ranges lies a beautiful lake, and on its shores, a grand city. Its buildings are made of solid and polished stone, some covered in fine and precious metals. Around the city lie fields and forests with unusual animals and many different peoples. My home is in the center of the city, and from my windows I view the blue lake that glistens like a precious jewel in the sunshine. In my home there are many splendid artifacts from faraway places; some of precious metals, some of glorious textiles. They are in my rooms, and I gladly display them to my visitors.” He paused a moment. “Perhaps I may show them to you one day,” he said turning to Rhuna.
“You mean… me, leave this land… and visit… your land?” she stammered with disbelief. Tozar suddenly stood up and stepped several paces across the dark cave.
“I have spoken enough,” he said bluntly. Rhuna watched his back and felt a pain in her chest. She wondered whether she had said something wrong, and why he had ended the story so abruptly, just when she found it most interesting.
“You should leave now,” he said, and waited near the cave’s opening for her. She moved towards it slowly and then looked up to his face. Rhuna thought she saw deep distress in his soft blue eyes, and it puzzled her even more.
“Better, should you not tell anyone of me,” he said firmly. Rhuna nodded silently, then entered the shaft to leave the cave. She stopped after her first step.
“I’ll come visit your home, Tozar!” she said.
“Go now,” he said, and Rhuna left the cave.
It was another fine, crisp morning the following day when Rhuna clambered up the hillside to enter the cave. When she was inside and her eyes had adjusted to the light, she saw Tozar sitting on the ground in the rough circle of sunlight. His eyes were closed and he sat motionless. Rhuna approached slowly, catching her breath and realizing how much she had hurried to see him again.
Tozar remained sitting upright with eyes closed, his hands gently folded in his lap. She knew he had heard her approach, but he made not the slightest move as she kneeled down beside him.
“Aren’t you feeling well?” Rhuna asked with a slight tremble in her voice. After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes and turned his head towards her so she could see his playful smile.
“I am feeling well, Rhuna,” he said calmly. “I was watching,” he added softly.
“But your eyes were closed,” Rhuna protested. “I saw you!”
“I was watching inside,” Tozar answered, and smiled again at Rhuna’s perplexed expression. “Inside?”
“Yes, inside myself. I practice this routine each day to assist in the focus of concentrated thought energies.”
“Oh.”
“Do you not question me on what manner of things I focus my concentrated thought energies?” Tozar asked when Rhuna had remained silent.
“Ahm.” Rhuna fumbled with one of the ends of her belt.
“Very well, Child, I shall tell you,” he said with a satisfied nod. Rhuna began to twist her belt ends around her fingers. His hand suddenly produced a small pebble from the cave’s floor, and placed it on the sunlit area in front of them. Then he told Rhuna to keep looking at the little dark stone while he closed his eyes and sat as before, with a calm but vigil look on his face, motionless and relaxed.
Rhuna looked at him, then back at the stone and back again, finding it impossible to keep her gaze fixed on the stone as Tozar had instructed. Eventually, her eyes settled on the serene and handsome face, and Rhuna found herself examining the fine lines and contours of his features. When he suddenly opened his eyes, Rhuna startled as if awakened from a dream.
“Look at the stone, Child,” he said in the same calm tone. Rhuna felt a prickly heat flush across her face in embarrassment because she had not paid attention, and quickly turned to avoid his look. She looked down at the stone in front of them.
Rhuna blinked several times until she realized what had happened.
The dark shiny stone had become much lighter in colour, and looked much more porous and grainy. Her first reaction was to look for the shiny dark one nearby, thinking Tozar had swapped the little stones while she wasn’t looking. Her mind raced and struggled to comprehend.
“Do you not see the change in the stone, Rhuna?”
She nodded.
“How has it changed?” he asked.
“It’s…. lighter. Like wet sand.”
“And how did the stone appear before?”
“Black. Smooth and hard,” she answered obediently, waiting anxiously for the outcome of this game.
“Correct, Child. It was dark grey-brown with a very dense grain, and now it is light grey-yellow with a loose grain. Here, feel it,” he said as he placed the stone in her hand.
“Did you… did you change it?” Rhuna asked.
“Yes. You, also, have the ability to transform,” he said cheerfully.
“I have?” she asked with wide eyes that made Tozar grin irresistibly.
“Yes, Child. You also have the Atlan ability,” he said. “You are able to transform elements at will, with concentrated thought energies.”
“Elements?”
“Elements. Rocks. Sand, water, air. All things are elements of a certain category. Minerals, metals, energies such as fire, solar light, lunar magnetism. Elements, Rhuna. You may be master over all of them, but some elements require more energies to transform than others. You must learn.”
“I must?” she asked with a tremble.
“No, Child,” he said, quickly shaking his head. “Nothing is required or demanded of you. Do you understand? Rest assured, Rhuna,” he said placing his hand on hers, “you may do as you please.”
She nodded and noticed a faint tremble pass through her at the touch of his hand on hers. He removed his hand and looked down at the sunlit circle before them.
“What’s a dark master?” asked Rhuna after a moment of silence. “Why is everyone in the village saying that you and the others are dark masters?” Her voice had begun to tremble and tears welled up in her eyes.
Rhuna saw that for a brief moment Tozar was deeply moved by her outburst, but in an instant his face resumed its usual serenity.
“Find peace and calm yourself, Child. I shall tell you what you must know.” He changed his sitting position to face her, then took a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. “The Dark Master is a person who was once like us, wearing a white robe and spreading knowledge across the Atlan Empire. He was a priest and teacher of very high repute, and studied the most advanced sciences on the hig
hest levels.” Tozar’s tone changed and his eyes lowered to the ground. “However, he began to… misuse the knowledge he had acquired. Yes, he misused his abilities in the most frightful manner, and worst of all, he became proud of his divergent course. To declare his stand against the Atlan Empire, he proceeded to wear a black robe rather than a white one. This is how he came to be known as the Dark Master, due to his dark robe.”
“Where is he now,” asked Rhuna, mesmerized by Tozar’s story.
“It is not known among us. Most of us believe he perished,” said Tozar as he took a deep breath. “He has not been seen or heard of in many solar cycles, although his influence is entrenched in the furthest reaches of the Empire, and I fear his activities shall not easily be forgotten. In fact, it is one of my duties to remedy these Dark Influences in the Empire, that his divergent teachings may not take root and spread like a poisonous vine. For this reason I am here, Rhuna.”
He looked at Rhuna’s fixed eyes and intense attention.
“The standing stones on this island are carved in the image of the Dark One,” he continued with a deep sigh. “Hence the severity of this action by the priests of this land.”
Rhuna blinked and thought about what she had heard.
“What are priests and teachers? Are they like our elders?” she asked.
“Much, much more than your village elders, Rhuna. We bring enlightenment and knowledge to all peoples. We instruct them how to build homes, to grow and prepare food, to understand the stars in the sky, the signs in the earth. We instruct them in the solving of problems, of healing all manner of ailments and even to play music and entertain. This is the Atlan obligation and responsibility. Therefore, so much more the gravity of the situation when a prominent priest or teacher uses his ability for selfish and destructive purposes.”
Rhuna noticed that the serenity had vanished from Tozar’s face. His brow had become creased and the fine lines around his eyes were more visible. She wished she hadn’t asked about the Dark Master, but at the same time she was relieved to know that Tozar wasn’t that one, and that her Uncle Metti and the village elders were mistaken.
That afternoon, Rhuna resolved to observe the island’s priests, the white-robed Masters she had seen from afar, and who lived in an isolated area on the side of the island opposite the many small villages around her own home. She put one foot in front of the other, determined to follow the path she was on to the very end, where the Masters’ small settlement was located. She had never seen it, but had heard talk in the village that the Masters lived at the end of this path. The excitement of reporting her observations to Tozar as he had asked of her, outweighed the apprehension she felt as she neared the site.
The path ended sooner than Rhuna expected, and she stopped at a clearing among the thinned forest where she saw a foreign-looking stone house with a roof of wood and plant materials. She thought that the stones of the house were unusually flat and straight-edged, and the entire area around the house was different from the communal places of her own people. In front of the house, the ground was level and clean, and next to the house was a perfectly round pond of clear water. The flat clearing outside the house featured a cooking area made of smooth stones, and several wooden blocks that served as seats or small tables. A man stood at the cooking area tending to a pot over the fire. He wore the same white robe that Tozar wore, but he was smaller and rounder, and his head was almost completely bald.
“H-hello,” Rhuna stammered as she came within speaking distance of the man at the pot. He continued as if he had not heard her, then removed his stirring spoon from the pot, straightened and looked at her.
“Hello, hello!” he said with a cheery smile. “You live with your mother on the far side of the island,” he said with a nod. “You have come to visit us, have you?” he asked, and then his eyes disappeared into many creases as he nodded and grinned broadly.
“Am I allowed to?” asked Rhuna, fumbling with her belt.
“Allowed? Allowed? Why, of course you are allowed to visit! Come, come, sit here,” he said waving his hand towards a wooden pedestal that served as a seat. He quickly resumed stirring in the pot and inspected the contents, then suddenly turned to Rhuna. “Do you prepare food other than pigs and maize broth?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
Rhuna looked at the strange man and his rubbery face. His small light eyes surrounded by his soft, pinkish face reminded her of a piglet. “How refreshing, should you know of other foods,” he continued. “I yearn for refreshing change in this matter, you see,” he said as he stirred the pot with contempt. “My soul cries out in searing agony each time I am presented with another maize or pigs broth. And all these pigs! Pigs, pigs, pigs everywhere! How do you bear it, girl, how do you bear it?” he said as he shook his head passionately in dismay.
“I… I never thought about it. But sometimes I cook fish,” she said.
“Fish? Fish? How do you eat such vile meat, tell me! Ah!” he turned towards the man who had come out of the house. “Rumble in the Earth, we have a visitor, behold!” his hand flopped as he made a sweeping gesture to introduce Rhuna. “She lives with her mother on…”
“The albino child. I know,” he said grumpily, barely looking at Rhuna. “Your mother wonders not where you are at this present moment?” he asked her, then looked at the bowl of food prepared for him.
Rhuna shook her head.
The brusque man took a bowl of food and sat down on one of the simple wooden seats. Rhuna examined his narrow dark eyes and sharply-curved nose.
“What is your name?” he said as he looked at her between mouthfuls. Rhuna thought that his eyes were like the small black shells she often found in the sand.
“Rhuna,” she answered.
“I am Sunshine on the Mountain,” said the bouncy bald one, “and this is Rumble in the Earth. Join us!” he said as both arms gestured excitedly.
“Funny names!” said Rhuna.
“They are?” responded Sunshine on the Mountain. “Tell me, girl… Rhuna, what other food besides fish do you prepare?” His rubbery eyebrows stayed in their raised position.
“I can make some green leaf vegetables. My mother showed me.”
“Bless Me! Green vegetables! Green leaf vegetables! Good, good! Would you prepare this meal for us, yes?” the man’s face made Rhuna want to giggle. She nodded and felt more at ease with the cheerful Master. He handed her a smooth and perfectly round wooden bowl full of a thick steaming soup. She had never tasted such a delicious pork and maize stew. The dark-eyed stern one ate his meal silently, as if in deep thought.
“Always the same scenery, no escape from this desolate speck of dirt!” Sunshine on the Mountain continued as he sat down and reluctantly began his meal. “How do you bear to live here, Rhuna girl, how?”
“She knows no other life,” answered Rumble in the Earth. “However, she has the advantage of local knowledge. Such as where to find edible greens, is this not so?” he asked Rhuna. She nodded obediently. “Would you show us where to find them and how you prepare them?” Rhuna nodded again.
“Don’t you like it here?” she asked after she had finished the delicious stew.
Both men looked surprised and waited for the other to answer. It was the bubbly Sunshine on the Mountain who exploded forth.
“What is there to like, here on this ridiculously small rock in the middle of the Great Ocean? What? We are accustomed to endless forests and great plains, high mountains and deep lakes where one may wander freely for many days and nights! However, our personal feelings are irrelevant, irrelevant!” he said as he brushed a floppy hand back and forth. “We were assigned to this land for a good purpose, yes. Our purpose is to prevent the world from sinking into savagery and barbarism, of course!” he nodded happily. “And now, Rhuna, please, show us those green vegetables in order that I may find refreshment for my soul and throw away this contemptible broth!”
Rhuna led the two men to a moist area beneath shading trees and described the simple prep
aration and cooking process of the large green leaves, and then began her long and lonely walk home. She felt much more confident because she had approached them, eaten a meal with them and generally felt at ease with them. She was also pleased that she found nothing particularly wrong with either of them, and began to wonder why Uncle Metti and the people of her village disliked the Masters so much.
She decided to take the longer path back to her home that passed the far point of the island where the giant stone statues came from. It was on the side of the big rocky outcrop that Uncle Metti had said was once a volcano, and where the Masters now made the giant stone men. Rhuna scrambled through scrubs and boulders that were strewn about the uneven landscape, and when she stopped to look around, an unfamiliar sound reached her ears. She remained still and listened. It was a regular and rhythmic sound, but unlike anything she had ever heard before. It vaguely reminded her of soap sliding over a washing stone.
Rhuna discerned that the foreign sound came from behind the craggy ridge ahead of her. As silently as possible, she climbed over a few more boulders to peer over the top rocks. In the rocky hollow below her, Rhuna saw the back of a white-robed Master who was moving something over a massive rock piece, thereby making the strange sliding sound. She quickly recognized the enormous rock as another statue, about half completed. She stood still and watched from her rocky perch.
The Master stopped making the sound, reached for a shiny container near his feet and poured water over the area where he had been moving his arms across. After this, he stepped back to examine what he had done. He moved aside to get another foreign-looking object, this time shaped like a large bag with smooth and straight sides. He stood motionless and stared at the object for a while, and then Rhuna saw that the strange object began to glow brightly as if it had a small sun inside it. The bright rays shone out to one side of the bag-like object, directly onto the statue. After shining the light over parts of the rock, the man put the bag down and took up one of several tools. Rhuna thought it looked like a sharp-edged shell that she often used for digging and weeding in their garden. She watched the Master begin to scoop and scrape away large and small pieces of the dense stone as if it were soft pig’s meat. Rhuna realized that the holes he had carved were the eye sockets of the enormous statue.
Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom Page 3