#but I’m fascinated by the way my soul leaps up rejoicing when it’s like here is a Mission someone has do you want to be their support?

[in-my-time]

20-01-2017 | Sacrifices

Happy New Year!

To start the year off on my blog, I thought I’d post something a little different. 

A new semester has started at university and one of my courses this semester happens to be World Mythology. I guess I have always had this fascination with mythology and all things other worldly, the heroes and the villains, and the monsters and the monster slayers. So when one of our assignments was to write our very own myth, I was as happy as a clam. (I don’t even know why a clam is so happy and who decided that every person’s goal in life is to be as happy as a clam, but you get the gist. I was REALLY excited) 

So here it goes, this is the short story I submitted as my myth! Enjoy! 

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To the tribe of Kari a boy was born, he had eyes as blue as the ocean and hair as golden as the sun. He was neither short nor tall, not handsome or hideous. On his hands he had 10 fingers, and his feet 10 toes. He had nothing more and nothing less than any other boy in the tribe. His tribe lived amidst the wild animals in the forest and many believed that the Karis were animals themselves, in human form. After the boy’s birth, days turned to nights and months turned into years. When one day on the boys 18th birthday, a rumble was heard. A rumble that shook the earth’s core and snapped the trees in half. The Karis knew that it was time again. Just like it is every 20 years. It was time for the monster to feed, it was time for the sacrifice. The tribe believed in the existence of a beast. One with the six eyes as red as fire and eight arms like an octopus. Stories were told about the cruelty of the beast around the camp fire. The Kari’s used the shadows to tell of a hero, seen in a prophecy, that will move the earth, the waters, the heavens, and the wild. A Hero who will slay the monster, their savior. The beast, Karoon, was believed to live across the river, in the deepest cave in the mountains never to be seen except when it's time to feed. Every 20 years, the tribe would sacrifice five people, in addition to the harvest of that same year. This time, the chosen were two warriors and three of the weakest members of the tribe. They were dragged away and tied to the trees by the river. The same river that acts as a border between them and Karoon’s cave. Amongst the sacrifices, sat a boy, with eyes as blue as the ocean and hair as golden as the sun. His name was Ryder.

 When the sun had set, and the moon was high; The sacrifices shuddered in fear. Although their hearts were filled with bravery and pride, their bodies shook to the core. As the hours passed by, they heard the rumbles getting closer, and with every thunderous roar, Ryder’s fear waivered and his courage set in. His mind would not stop thinking of ways to change the outcome of his story. He thought of a hundred and one ways to escape with his life and all seemed impossible. Where would he run to? What would happen to his tribe, his family? Karoon will find him, it will never stop until it finds him.

 Ryder looked at the others. Next to him sat a man, whom he knew as Wolf. Across from him, three women from the same womb, identical in features and years. Their names were, Meadow, Avon and Sky. They had a solemn look upon their faces, as if they have already accepted their fate and were quite contempt with it. Infact, Wolf, although scared, was glowing with joy at being one of the chosen ones. They were all willing to rejoice in what is to happen to them, except for Ryder. His mind raced with questions that had no answers. He searched his surrounding hoping to find something, anything that will help him escape his fate. To his right, he found nothing but twigs and mud. To his left, he found a small rock, almost buried in the ground.

 The gods are smiling down on me, Ryder thought.

 Tied to the tree behind him, Ryder’s arms rested on either side of him. He bent his knees to reach the rock and clamped it with his feet. He began to kick the rock backwards towards him, and after a struggle his attempts succeeded and he was able to hold the rock and start rubbing it against the rope on his chest.

 “What are you doing, brother?” Wolf asked. “Are you rejecting an honor given to you by the tribe?”

“I am rejecting my death and running for my life, if only this rock would work fast enough” Answered Ryder, his breath falling heavy.

 “By this you put the tribe in danger, Karoon will hunt you and the tribe down” Wolf yelled.

 “I am not willing to die at the hands of the beast, and surely neither are you, brother”

 “You are not a brother of mine, you are a coward, willing to abandon your fate and endanger the Kari, your people.”

 Both their voices were raised high enough, that they did not notice the roars of the beast coming closer.

 “Come with me, Wolf!” he turned to face the women, who were watching him intently, “Sisters! This is not your fate, you are to live long. You are to see your children grow and die of old age.”

 Meadow, Avon and Sky looked at each other, contemplating escape or thinking him absurd, he couldn’t tell.

 Ryder finally cut loose his ropes and leapt from his place. He looked at Wolf, then turned to look at the women, “is nobody coming with me?” he asked, desperately trying to convince them of a better outcome than death.

 “I believe it might be quite late for that now.” Whispered Wolf, with a look of pure horror on his face, looking beyond Ryder.

 That’s when Ryder felt it. A warm, moist breath fell onto the back of his neck that sent shivers down his spine. Then followed a growl so loud that almost deafened the sacrifices. Ryder turned around as slowly as humanly possible to come face to face with the most horrifying being he has ever laid eyes on. Its eyes, six fiery pits of hell. Its arms eight that went in every direction. Its legs were as big as the tribe’s biggest hut. The beast’s body was covered in hair and patches of blood that has hardened over the years. Blood of previous sacrifices.

 Ryder could barely think about what his next move would be before another roar sounded and Karoon was running towards him with full force. He started running, where to, he didn’t know but he was running, unable to stop. Karoon was at his tail, knocking down everything in its path.

 “I don’t want this! Get me out of here!” screamed Avon. “This is not honor; this is a wretched death! Help me, Ryder!”

 At this, Ryder’s mind was set. He couldn’t just run, because there is not a place to go he would not be found. He could not abandon the other sacrifices because he will never be able to live with it. He could not jeopardize his tribe and his family. With the monster in tow, Ryder tricked the beast to believe that he ran right but he circled back and ran in the opposite direction, back to the sacrifices. He heard Karoon stop running, and then slow footsteps coming back towards them.

 It will not be long till he reaches, he thought. I’ll need to free the strongest first.

 He ran towards the tree and untied the ropes and helped her up. “Meadow, you’ll need to free the others from their ropes. Karoon will be here in mere minutes, and I believe it’s about time we got rid of him once and for all. I shall keep him busy”

 Meadow nodded, and hastily went to free Wolf, then her sisters. To the Kari, Meadow was the strongest warrior, she had fought in battles bigger than this and had killed more people than all the warriors had, combined. Her face was as fierce as her heart and her hair as black as night. Her brown eyes pierced the fear into the strongest of hearts and within her came the strength of the earth.

 Once the last of the five was free, they all stood prepared to fight. Ryder was getting the beast to run in circles to eventually slow him down but there was no use. He was running out of breath and was quickly losing all feeling in his legs. When he saw the others free he yelled “Climb up the trees, the beast’s eyes are low and set to the ground. find something to fight with, and fight from above.”

 Instead of heading towards the trees as Meadow, Avon and Sky did, Wolf ran towards Ryder. The beast had almost caught up to him, when wolf called out from beside him. “You go! I’m faster, I can outrun him! I will run a little further and circle back towards the trees.”

 With that Ryder found the nearest boulder and quickly ducked behind it as Karoon kept after Wolf, who ran with the speed of all the wild combined.

 Ryder sprinted back towards the trees and climbed up the nearest one. On his right was Avon, waiting for his command. On his left was sky, terrified but brave. And on the tree across from him was meadow watching him and waiting to know what their next move would be. He started looking around their surroundings, just like with the rock, he was trying to find a weapon or something they could use to slow the beast down. Sky and Avon did the same, to Sky’s left on the ground she saw two spears, almost as old as she is, left by the Karis on one of their previous spearfishing trips. The tribe believed that after a spear kills a fish, it takes in the fish’s soul, resulting in bad luck if ever the spear was used again. Nonetheless she believed that there was no other choice for them but to use them.

 “I see spears on the ground!” She shouted.

 They could all hear the monster running back.

 “I have liana vines, if that would help!” Yelled Avon from the tree across.

 Ryder’s brain raced, thinking and rethinking every single way in which they could work with using the spears and lianas.

 Karoon’s footsteps are louder now.

 “Avon, cut down the lianas and throw one end to me! Sky, how fast do you think you can get the spears off the ground?” Ryder was suddenly made the leader of the task and he was not about to get everybody killed.

 “Why do you think I was given the name Sky, Ryder? I will have them faster than Wolf can run.” She smirked as she leaped off the tree to where the spears lie. Then, with an effortless and swift jump she’s back on the tree, even higher than before. She looked back at him, winked and said, “I can jump to the sky.”

 Karoon is mere seconds away now.

 Ryder held on to one end of the liana then threw it to sky, who got a hold of it easily. Sky then threw him the spears, which he threw to Avon on his right.

 “Avon, throw the other end of the liana to Meadow!” he shouted, “be brave, be strong, because when the beast is right below us, you and I will ride its back”

 Avon did not have time to process, she was to do what he asked and pray to the gods it works.

 “Meadow, right when the monster is below us, you and Sky are to pull the liana from both ends to slow the beast down and maybe cause his fall.” He ordered and they nodded in understanding. “All of you, pray to the gods and hold on for dear life. Our people depend on you!”

 As soon as he said those words, Wolf and the beast came into their lines of vision, Wolf was running as though his life depends on it, which it did. But with the strength of the wild running through him, he looked as if he was only taking a stroll by the river.

 Right when the monster was seconds away from being right below them, Ryder yelled “Now!” as loud as his lung and vocals would allow.

 The next few seconds were a blur, everything happened so fast and in wonderful execution. they worked as a band, each doing what they were meant to do, Wolf quickly ducked behind a tree. Sky and Meadow held on to the trees for dear life and pulled both ends of the liana vine as hard as their bodies would allow. While Ryder and Avon were on the back of the beast in no time, holding onto what little of its hair that was not hardened by blood.

 “Avon! When I say so, you have to stick the spears right into the back of its neck! Are you prepared?” the vine did not cause Karoon to fall but it did slow it down enough for them not to drop off.

 “One” Ryder Counted.

 Avon felt a force rush through her.

 “Two”

 She felt the strength of a thousand fish come through the spear into her body. She waited.

 “Three”

 Karoon let out the loudest shriek ever known to man, rose off his hands to his feet, and heaved Avon and Ryder off of him to the ground.

 He fell. The beast, Karoon, fell.

 The five tied the monster up in all the liana vines they could find and dragged it across the forest to the tribe. They walked amongst their people, heroes and saviors. Five and not one. And, from that day onwards, legends were told of the Ryder of the beast and how he moved the Meadow, the Avon, the Sky and the Wolf.

 The earth, the waters, the heavens, and the wild.

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