Beyond the Valley of Mist (20 page)

Then came the time for
judging the priests. The first to be judged was Negg.

Zen asked, “Who will speak
for this young priest?”

“
I will speak for him,”
Zarko said. “He was not the son of my loins, but he was the son of
my hearth. The condition of his birth was not of his choosing.
Other than his loyalty to the priests, he has been a good son. He
must have been confused as to where his loyalties lay. He knew he
was the child of a priest, but not knowing which priest, he was
loyal to all of them. By responding to that loyalty, he did a
terrible thing. If he will come back into the tribe and try to make
amends for the wrongs he has done, I will welcome him back into the
family, and I ask everyone to forgive him and welcome him back into
the clan.”

Zen’s mother Lynn added,
“Negg’s father was not a man of my choosing, but Negg is a child of
my body. I love him as a mother loves her child and I, too, welcome
him back. If he should prove unworthy of our love, we can banish
him later, but first we should allow him to prove himself either
worthy or unworthy. Negg, will you come back into the family and
back into the clan? Will you be a good person whom we can trust and
respect?”

“I am sorry for my
mistakes,” Negg replied. “Thank you for being willing to take me
back. I will try to prove my worthiness.”

Upon being given a second
chance Negg vowed to regain their trust, and with his eagerness and
excitement, worked tirelessly and harmoniously. His mother, who had
carried her torment silently, was pleased to see all the people
showing love and compassion toward him.

Negg was the first of many
priests allowed to return to the village. The judging continued
throughout the day and into the night. The people took some of the
priests back, but some had committed crimes so terrible that the
people decided they should be banished forever.

At last, they brought forth
the High Priest. Without his trappings of high office and without
his army of soldiers to carry out his commands, he was nothing but
a sniveling coward. He was the vile person who had sacrificed so
many people to a frightening and painful death. Many people had
members of their family burned to death by this despicable man.
They shouted, “Burn him, burn him!” Not one person spoke in his
behalf.

The High Priest was found
guilty of heinous crimes and was banished into the Valley of Mist.
He had allowed no means of defense to the people he had burned, so
he was allowed no weapons, and no one ever saw him
again.

After a long and trying
day, the Lalocks were ready to sleep. This had been a historic day.
Much was done, but much more was left to be done.

Zen had started something,
and he had to see it through. He said to the Lalocks, “Go home now
and then come back again tomorrow. You must choose a leader and
select a council to advise him or her. You also need a set of rules
for yourselves and your government.”

***

As soon as it was light,
the Lalocks started arriving. They wanted Zen to be their leader,
but he told them he had already started a new village beyond the
Valley of Mist, and welcomed anyone who wanted to join him to come
along.

“
I am honored by your
request,” Zen said, “but there are many people in this village who
are capable of leading, and they would be good leaders. All you
have to do is to select one. In addition, I think you should select
twelve others to work with your leader. He or she will need
advisors. With your help, whomever you select will make your
village a happy place for all of you to live.”

The meeting lasted all day,
but before sundown, they had selected Ome as their leader, and six
men and six women to serve as his advisors.

The first thing Ome and his
council had to do was to select a God whom the people could call
upon when they faced problems beyond their ability to solve. The
council asked Zen if he and his father would bring whomever they
thought might be helpful and sit with them to make this most
important decision.

Berk, Ador’s father and the
village doctor; Dar, the father of Lela; and Gordo, Jok’s father,
all agreed to sit in on the conference. One by one, the men spoke.
Many good and thoughtful ideas were proposed.

They asked Zen to
speak.

Zen said, “We, my friends
and I, were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to spend time
with the Zorians, who lived in the Village by the Sea. Theirs is a
happy village. They named their village Zoran, as they followed the
teaching of Zor, whom they refer to as the Wise One. He taught them
to worship Earth as the Mother God. They believe all life comes
from the earth and all life goes back into the earth to be reborn
to a new life, like the sun, which goes into earth at the end of
each day and is reborn each morning.

“
Zor taught them to never
sacrifice people to God. He told them that God makes everything
there is and everything there ever was, so God does not need gifts
from men. The people of the Village by the Sea make no sacrifices
to God, and they give no gifts to God. They celebrate and give
thanks to God for the gifts God gives to them. They have a happy
village where everyone works together for the good of
all.”

Having everyone’s
attention, Zen reminded them, “Zor was banished from this village
many lifetimes ago because he defied the High Priest by making his
own fire. It is told that Zor was a man who asked many questions,
like where does the sun go at night? Why does the wind blow? Where
did we come from, and where do we go when we die? He looked for the
answers, and believed that if men would put aside their fears and
honestly look for answers, they could, in time, find
them.”

Ome said, “It is true that
life does come from the earth. We see it each year as the new
plants grow. We see everything going back into the earth when it
dies, and it comes back year after year. I think Mother Earth will
make a good God. We will meet once each phase of the moon to
celebrate life and give thanks to Mother Earth for giving us
life.”

The Lalocks were excited
and talked long into the night. They wanted to know more. Now they
had people to lead them, and a God that was kind and good whom they
could pray to without fear.

***

Chapter 20

The Journey Home

“
Father,” Zen said, “it’s
time to leave. We must journey to the land of the bright, clean
river where we have started our village. The Lalocks who want to
stay here can live without fear of being sacrificed to any man’s
God, so our work here is done.”

“
Yes, son, tomorrow, we
will go,” Zarko agreed.

They invited Negg to join
them, and he quickly accepted. More than a few people thought that
Negg had been involved in sacrificing members of their families,
and it was difficult to put their anger aside. Negg was aware of
this and vowed to regain their trust.

As the sun climbed above
the trees, the band of travelers mounted their horses and rode west
toward the land of the volcano. Each traveler had a horse to ride.
Jok and Ador led the way while leading three packhorses. Zen and
Lela brought up the rear to provide assistance for anyone who might
need help.

By the end of the first
day, some of the new riders were experiencing pain from the
extended time of riding and were ready to rest. Jok and Ador found
a beautiful spot in a grove of large trees near a clear stream and
suggested they camp for the night. They placed the horses on long
tethers so they could graze and get to water. Men were assigned
sentry duty to watch over the horses and to warn the campers,
should they become aware of danger. All of the men were equipped
with bows and arrows to fend off any attack, whether from men or
animals.

The smell of meat cooking
brought the sounds of animals roaring in the forest. The travelers
sat around the fire discussing their first long ride and asking
questions about what to expect tomorrow.

Zen said, “We should be
able to see the roaring mountain by tomorrow evening. It will still
be in the distance, but I think we will see it.”

Cam and Nadd told of how
they had been taken captive by the volcano people and of their
harrowing experience at the sacrificial ceremony when Den was
sacrificed.

Some travelers showed signs
of concern, but Zen assured them that they would stay away from the
volcano and do everything possible to prevent coming in contact
with the cliff dwellers.

The next morning they
continued west, but in a direction that would keep them about a
day’s travel north of the cliff dwellers. Zarko and Gordo relieved
Zen from the duty of riding rear guard. As a precaution, Ren and
Cam rode parallel paths on each side of the group. When the sun was
about midway down, they saw a plume of smoke on the horizon, and
before dark, the mountain came into view. The people were
frightened and yet fascinated by the sight of smoke coming from the
top of a mountain. It was an ominous sight that brought back
terrifying memories to Cam and Nadd. Everyone was on the
alert.

Again, Jok and Ador found a
good campsite. Some of the women were afraid and thought that they
shouldn’t build a fire—some wide-ranging members of the cliff
dwellers might see the light of the fire and call their people down
on them. Zen placed an extra man on watch, and the night passed
without incident.

By mid-afternoon the
following day, they had passed the cliff dwellers, and Zen felt
they were far enough west of the volcano to turn south. His plan
was to climb the north side of the mountains of snow, and then ride
down into the valley of the clear river. They would then follow the
river to where they had started their new village. The river would
be their guide. When night fell, they built their campfire beneath
large trees to prevent the light of the fire from being
seen.

Zen, Cam, and Nadd stood
first watch, and after completing his watch, Zen went to bed with
Lela, but he couldn’t sleep. He had a feeling of impending danger.
He called Jok and Cam aside and confided his feelings. He didn’t
want to alarm the rest of the group without good cause.

Jok said, “I suggest we
place a shield here beside the fire where it can be seen by the
guards and tell them at the first sign of danger to shoot an arrow
into the shield to sound an alarm. The men are all nervous anyway,
and they’re sleeping with their weapons, so if we hear an arrow hit
the shield, we’ll be able to respond quickly.”

“
That’s a good idea,” Cam
said.

Zen went back to his bed
and lay down beside Lela. She felt soft and warm. She cuddled up to
him for an instant and then said, “Let me up. I have to answer
nature’s call.”

Zen released her, and
watched her walk into the night. Then he must have dozed. He didn’t
know how long, but when Lela didn’t return, he began to worry. He
didn’t want to violate her privacy, but he was concerned, so he
went to his parents and expressed his uneasiness.

“
I’ll help you find her,”
his mother said.

They searched everywhere
and soon realized that Lela was not in the camp.

“
Did any of you see Lela?”
Zen asked the men on guard.

“
Yes,” one of the men
responded. “I saw her enter those trees over there. I didn’t see
her come back, but I figured she had returned by another
path.”

“
She’s missing,” Zen said,
deeply concerned. “We have to awaken the camp so they can help us
find her, and soon.”

The guard alerted the camp
by shooting the arrow into the shield. The first light was showing
in the eastern sky, but animals still prowled.

“
Lela is missing, and we
must find her. Do not go alone into the forest,” Zen warned the
searchers. “It’s too dangerous. We must find her trail, or the
trail of whatever has taken her. We must search in an organized
way. Father, you are the best tracker our village ever had. Do you
think you can follow her trail?”

“
I can follow her trail or
the trail of whatever has taken her, but first, we must find a
trail to follow.”

One of the guards called
out, “Here is a spot that looks as if a scuffle of some sort has
taken place. What do you think, Zarko?”

Zarko looked at the tracks
and said, “She was taken by men. Grab your weapons, get your
horses, and follow me.”

Zen knew Lela was in great
danger. His heart was pounding as he followed his father’s lead.
The trail went in the direction of the volcano. The volcano was
still angry and, without a doubt, the cliff dwellers would
sacrifice Lela to their Volcano God to appease it.

“
Nothing will stop me from
killing anyone who harms Lela,” Zen said, as he called back over
his shoulder. “Jok, bring the horses and follow us with the rest of
the men. We’re going to take her from them before they can throw
her into the volcano!”

All day, Zen and Zarko
followed the trail. Just as it was getting dark, they heard drums
beating an ominous rhythm. Jok and Cam rode up on their horses,
leading two other horses for Zen and Zarko.