Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom

by Barbara Underwood

  Rhuna’s heart began to race, so she quickly stepped down from her spying perch and thought about what she had seen. She realized that the sensation she was feeling was excitement, not fear.

  Careful to be quiet at first, Rhuna stepped away from the rocks, then quickened her pace until she was running towards her familiar hillside.

  “Tozar!” she called out breathlessly as she slid down the cave’s entrance, “I saw a statue being made!” she said catching her breath and suddenly unable to hide her excitement. “It was just one man, a Master, working on a giant statue!”

  Tozar looked surprised, but not as pleased as Rhuna hoped he would be. “You observed the making of the statues?” he asked incredulously. He stepped into the afternoon sunlight and examined her face.

  “Yes! And I also met two of the other Masters at their house. They were making a meal and they gave me some!”

  “You approached them directly, and shared a meal with them?” he asked astounded.

  “You asked me to help you find out about things on this island. I thought you’d be happy that…”

  “Yes, yes, I am, Child, I am,” he said nodding quickly. “I am very surprised, nevertheless. I assumed you would merely report to me of matters seen and spoken among your family and elders. However, I am grateful, I am pleased,” he said smiling at her. “Sit and tell me all the things you have observed, Rhuna.”

  Rhuna spoke quickly so that she could ask questions afterwards.

  “How did he cut away the stone? I’ve used a sharp bone knife to cut food, but it can’t cut stone!” she said after describing what she had seen.

  “The stone must be heated to make it soft, and then you may cut and carve it as if it were cheese,” explained Tozar.

  “Cheese?”

  “Yes, cheese. Cheese that you eat with bread. It looks and feels like the cake of soap you use to clean,” said Tozar.

  “Oh.”

  “However, cheese tastes much better than soap,” Tozar added with a playful smile.

  “Oh!” Rhuna wondered what other foods there were that she had previously never heard of, such as the Masters’ pork and maize stew.

  “But how did he make the rock so soft? Was it the sun in the bag?”

  “Sun in the bag? Ah, the instrument to harness solar energy! Yes,” nodded Tozar. “It collects the sun’s energy, enabling one to concentrate and direct the intensified rays onto a small area. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. But how does the.. instrument do that?”

  Tozar raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. “You wish me to explain this, do you, Child of Curiosity?” His smile betrayed his willingness to indulge in her questions, so she nodded hard.

  “Perhaps tell me first, what happens to the dry dirt outside your home when it begins to rain? It becomes mud, does it not? And when the mud dries in the sunshine, it becomes as hard as stone, does it not?”

  Rhuna nodded eagerly.

  “It is the same with all other particles in the universe. Should you change the nature of their particle structure by use of various energies and exterior forces, they transform into another matter. You observed me cause such a transformation with the small hard stone, do you remember?”

  Rhuna nodded again, feeling excited.

  “In this manner, the statue-maker changed the nature of the stone, albeit only temporarily. He harnessed the energy of the sun, and by the use of his concentrated thought energies, intensified this energy to produce extreme solar heat that softened the stone, enabling him to sculpt it. Cool water was used to restore the stone to its original hard state.”

  Rhuna sat silently and thought about what Tozar had explained to her.

  “I watched him making the eyes of the statue. It looks like all the other ones on the island. Is it… is it the Dark Master?”

  “It is he. They are honouring the Dark One with these images in stone,” he said shaking his head slowly in dismay.

  “Why don’t you go tell them that they’re doing something wrong?” asked Rhuna.

  “It would be my duty to do so, however, I must be cautious. It appears they are unaware of the deep mistrust of the Zao. This could lead to a more serious situation.” Tozar slowed and frowned deeply. “I desire… I wish my colleagues to hasten their journey to this island, and that I may not be the sole bearer of reproof, nor endanger further lives…”

  “There’ll be more boats coming? When? From where? From your home?” asked Rhuna excitedly.

  “Yes, yes,” he nodded, “the ships that accompanied mine to this part of the Great Ocean. They are aware of my current situation and shall arrive as a large fleet,” he said seriously. “Meanwhile, I must observe cautiously and avoid peril.”

  Tozar stared at the ground in front of him for a moment, and then turned to Rhuna with a fresh light in his eyes.

  “Is there a small pond of still water nearby, Rhuna?”

  His question was a pleasant surprise to Rhuna because she had become anxious listening to his serious tone and words about avoiding danger. She nodded eagerly and leapt to her feet.

  “There’s a small rock pond in my garden, where the water flows down the hill after rain,” she said as she went towards the cave’s opening.

  “Show me,” he said as he followed her outside.

  Rhuna felt the warmth of the afternoon sun on her body, and then turned around as Tozar also emerged from the cave’s small entrance. It was the first time she had seen him in proper light, and she remained standing to watch him more closely. His skin appeared lighter than she realized, making the blueness of his eyes even more striking. He squinted against the sunlight as he straightened outside the cave’s low opening, and Rhuna once again noticed the fine lines around his eyes.

  Tozar also stood still and looked at Rhuna for a long moment, then told her to hurry and show him the small water pond.

  Rhuna led him down the hillside through thick bushes and tall grasses, into the shaded rocky gully near the foot of the hill. She turned to look at Tozar several times and noticed his constant vigilant glances around and behind them. Suddenly, Rhuna realized that Tozar had been hiding in her cave, and that he didn’t want to be seen by any of the villagers.

  They reached a small rock pool half filled with water, no wider than an arm’s length. It lay sheltered under a small leafy tree, and a small creek trickled running water nearby. Rhuna told Tozar that she often used to play here, and then asked if this pond was what he wanted.

  “It is perfect!” he said triumphantly, and kneeled down next to the water. “Be seated near me, Rhuna, and observe.”

  Rhuna sat down on the surrounding rocks and wondered what he would do.

  He removed a small cloth pouch from within his robe, pulled open the draw strings and gently removed a glimmering container about the size of his thumb. Rhuna watched intently as he delicately remove its lid.

  He stretched his hand with the small container over the pool of water, closed his eyes as if in deep concentration, then spoke several foreign words that Rhuna didn’t understand while sprinkling some of the powdery contents of the container over the water. The process lasted only a moment, but Rhuna sat mesmerized as she watched. When he opened his eyes again, he immediately looked down at the water and fixed his sight on it.

  Rhuna gently moved forward to see what Tozar was looking at in the small rock pool. At first she thought she saw only their own reflections, but then she realized there were three faces, and two of them were Sunshine on the Mountain and Rumble in the Earth.

  “What is this, Tozar?” Rhuna whispered loudly. “Why are those two Masters in the water’s reflection?”

  “They discuss the making of the statues here on this island,” he said slowly. “Watch and listen carefully,” he said softly.

  Rhuna moved closer to Tozar so that she could see the images clearly, and then she recognized the cooking area where she had sat with the two Masters. She watched the three men sitting on the wooden seats talking to each other. Suns
hine of the Mountain waved his arms and hands around boisterously, while Rumble in the Earth looked angrier than usual.

  “We have received such communication directly from Atlán, and yet you continue!” grumbled Rumble in the Earth as he spoke to the third man who Rhuna had seen making the statues. She was surprised that she could hear them speaking through the small body of water.

  “They are far away!” she heard the third man reply, then watched as he dismissed the discussion with a wave of his long arm.

  Tozar sat back on his heels and sighed. Rhuna watched as the image suddenly vanished, and the still water returned to its normal colours and reflections.

  “They understand what they do,” he muttered as he slowly shook his head. “I had hoped…” Tozar ended his thought and turned his attention to Rhuna.

  “However, you are present, Rhuna, and I intended you to see by which means you may access information. Behold, the Gazing of the Waters,” he said as he swept his hand over the small rock pool. “A small amount of water shall suffice. Should your words be correctly chosen and your skills led by wisdom and discernment, the Gazing of the Waters shall reveal all knowledge to you.”

  “You mean me?” asked Rhuna astounded. Tozar nodded with a smile.

  “I thought only the Masters could do those things that other people can’t do,” Rhuna said feeling puzzled.

  “This is true,” replied Tozar, “however, I believe you, also, possess the ability.” He looked at Rhuna intently.

  “But… but.. how could I? I’m just a nothing, everyone always says so. I don’t even belong here with my own people and relatives. They all think I’m strange or stupid!” she said despairingly.

  “Do you not know who you are, Rhuna?” Tozar responded urgently as he stood up and pulled her up alongside him. “Do you really not know, Child? Look at your palms, your inner arms, your hair. Have you not noticed at all?”

  “Yes, they’re pale, that’s what I’m always teased about…”

  “You are white-skinned, Rhuna! White, as I am. Your father was an Atlan man as I am,” he said firmly, then let his words sink in.

  “My father? How do you know?” Rhuna began to tremble.

  “I know. You have Atlan heritage. It is obvious.” His firm words hit her hard.

  “Does my mother know?” she asked bewildered.

  “Most certainly she does!” Tozar answered.

  “Is this a bad thing?”

  “In this case it is a relative matter,” Tozar answered. “It depends on you, Rhuna. You have a privileged choice that no one else possesses among the Zao people on this island.”

  “I have?”

  “Indeed so. You may choose to take full advantage of the heritage your father gave you, living a life far removed from the one you have known to this day. Else, you may continue your life here as you know it. Either choice is good and acceptable, however…” he hesitated to finish.

  “Until I met you, I didn’t know there could be another life,” Rhuna said quickly.

  “This is understandable,” Tozar said. “There is a wondrous life awaiting you beyond the horizon, should you choose it. A life full of the most unimaginable rewards and happiness. With knowledge comes responsibility, however, with wisdom comes freedom and enlightenment. This is our Atlan heritage, Rhuna, mine and also yours.”

  Then Tozar began walking back to the cave, and told Rhuna that it was time for her to return home.

  As soon as Rhuna entered the small hut that was her home, she was pelted by hard and penetrating questions.

  “Where are you going these days with your hair all groomed and wearing a belt? Are you meeting someone? Who is it? Why haven’t you told me? How could you do this to me, going out in secret without telling me?” her mother asked fiercely.

  Rhuna shrunk back from her angry mother and began searching for words to answer.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me that my father was white-skinned?” she retorted in response, surprising both herself and her mother. “You’ve never helped me with anything, and you’re always trying to blame me for everything! You blame me for being born!”

  Rhuna’s outburst left her mother speechless for a moment, but then a steely determination crossed her face.

  “The Elders have been here asking where you go every day and about the Master you say you met in your cave. I told them how you’ve changed, and that was all they needed to hear!” spat her mother. “Velisa told them what you said about the blankets in your cave, where he slept! It didn’t take much for the elders to figure out what’s been going on! Using you as their sex slave and you went along with it, didn’t you! Now we can be sure of their bad ways so we’ll be rid of them all before long!” shouted Rhuna’s mother as she gestured wildly with her arms. “And isn’t it just typical of you to get caught up with them and be part of their ways!” she hissed, then turned her back on Rhuna and violently tore at the evening meal’s vegetables she had been preparing.

  “But Mama! I haven’t done anything wrong!” Rhuna started, but her mother’s rigid back was unchanged.

  “Go on, get out of here!” responded her mother coldly. “Run back to him! You belong with that lot, you said so yourself. Your father was one of them!”

  Rhuna’s mouth stayed shut. Instead of tears, a cold hardness came over her, and then she also turned her back to leave the hut. She walked with heavy steps in the cool and fading sunlight, grappling with the words she had heard her mother speak. Had Rhuna not been so distracted by these painful thoughts, she would have sensed the presence of two people nearby.

  Rhuna was taken from behind as a thick hairy arm squeezed her waist like a vice and lifted her feet off the ground. Instinctively, she began to kick fiercely and dig her fingernails into the sinewy brown flesh of the arm around her.

  “Quick! Grab her!” said the owner of the thick arm as her nails began to draw blood. “It’s time you were dealt with! Bad luck is what you are for the rest of us!” the man said viciously. Rhuna’s kicks had made the man lift his legs and lose his balance briefly, which was all Rhuna needed to slip under the bleeding arm and hit the ground running. Another arm, longer and thinner, swiped out across her path, but she side-stepped it like a scuttling rabbit and hurtled through the dense shrubbery alongside the path. She had never run so fast before. She let her legs carry her while her arms pushed aside tall grass and twigs from her face. Then the ground became soggy and she had to lift her knees higher and find rocks to step on. Finally, she reached the base of the familiar hillside and without a pause, she raced towards the cave.

  Her breathing was hard and loud when she reached the secret entrance, and where she stopped and looked behind her to make sure the two men had not followed her there. Then she scampered down the tunnel so quickly that she lost her footing at the bottom and fell in a heap on the cave’s hard earthen floor.

  “Rhuna!” said Tozar alarmed, as he quickly bent to lift her to her feet. “You are injured!” he said, seeing scratches on her legs and feet. He held a small burning torch of branch and plant materials in one hand and shone it over her.

  Rhuna couldn’t speak, only reach around his waist and bury her face in his soft white robe. She trembled and sobbed while Tozar held her firmly against his chest.

  “What is it?” he whispered loudly and urgently. “Has someone followed you here?”

  “I don’t think so, but they were after me!” she wailed. She felt Tozar’s hand caress her head and it soothed her.

  After several more deep sobs, Rhuna had calmed down enough to tell Tozar what her mother had said, and about the two men who grabbed her on the path.

  “I have underestimated the entire situation,” he said gravely when Rhuna had finished. Then he stepped back and looked at Rhuna.

  “You are in a perilous situation due to me,” he said. “It was careless of me, I should have foreseen…”

  “Why does everyone hate me? Because of my white skin?”

  “In part,” said Tozar hastily. “Y
our mother… she has been somewhat shunned by the rest of her people due to you, has she not?” Rhuna nodded and wiped her tears. “She blames you for her unhappiness. Are you terribly hurt by her words?” he asked gently.

  “No, I don’t think so. I’m just angry that she never told me anything about my father all my life. And now she hates me and thinks I’m a .. a sex slave!” she burst into tears again, but they quickly dried. Tozar placed his hand on her upper arm to comfort her again.

  “What’s a sex slave?” Rhuna asked as she recalled her mother’s bitter speech.

  “It is something that does not exist in the Atlan Empire,” he answered. Then he moved quickly to extinguish his torch in the cave’s earthy floor.

  “We must leave now,” he whispered urgently. “Earlier this evening, I consulted the Gazing of the Waters regarding the matter of our rescue. Let us leave now, as darkness has fallen and we shall be safe a little while longer.”

  Rhuna felt her way out of the cave and into the night’s darkness that had just descended upon them.

  “Take hold of my hand and hasten your steps, Rhuna” he whispered to her as they hurried down the hillside. The night sky revealed just enough light for Rhuna to recognize the familiar paths. “We must first go to the home of the priests,” he said firmly. His tight grip on her hand made Rhuna feel safer. They walked silently and briskly along the path leading to the Masters’ house. As they neared the site, Rhuna saw the light of a cooking fire and other torches in the clearing outside the stone house.

  “What is this?” Sunshine on the Mountain had lost his usual effervescence and his thick lips wobbled in astonishment as he saw Rhuna and Tozar step into the torch-lit clearing.

  “Yes, it is I,” said Tozar, as he approached the three men and let go of Rhuna’s hand. She followed close behind him with ears peeled to hear every word that was spoken. “I regret that our meeting cannot be under happier circumstances.”