TOTEM First 5 Chapters

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TOTEM

By

Chris Moore


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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the authors

imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, livingor dead, is entirely coincidental.

www.crmooreauthor.com

TOTEM. Copyright 2010 Chris Moore.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles orreviews.

Chris Moore

[email protected]
http://www.crmooreauthor.com/http://www.crmooreauthor.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.crmooreauthor.com/


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For Veronica


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Chapter 1

When the night fires glow in the sky he crawls to her hut. In the dry mud and brambles stands a

crack in the wall that he looks through. He places his eye to the crack, but in the darkened

opening where the family sleeps it is hard to see. Many times he asks her to come out, but she

never will; she is fearful of the Leader.

Before coming here, he waits until the Gatherer parents are asleep and then creeps off

past the huts on his own. At first he moves up the center row of Ashirah poles away from the

promontory cliff, but then he turns off where the village widens and heads behind the Elders

hut, keeping to the forest edge. Moving in this direction, he reaches the twisted bramble-branch

arch and stops. The arch opens onto the dark trail where no one goes, and he waits there a

moment before peering around the corner, uncertain of what he will find.

When he knows that nothing is moving in the forest, he passes the gate and moves on to

her hut. There he pauses and goes to the front by the poles and listens for the Mother and the

Leader who he thinks are sleeping. Sometimes they make noise like they are awake, and if they

do, he walks back to the Gatherers hut, where the painted canine Dogo lies sleeping in the dirt.

But tonight the Mother and the Leader are silent, and so he moves to the rear of the hut in the

dark. There at the cracked wall he makes a noise to wake her, and though he is careful not to

make too much, there is a flame in him that wants the Leader to rise. But that would not be good,

he knows.

He whispers for her. It is hard for him to see into the opening. The moon is covered, but

when he squints he sees the outline of her fathers headdress hanging on the opposite wall. This

is all he sees at first. But as his eyes relax, he looks down upon Theos bed and finds the shape of

her hide blanket flat and empty.


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Where is she? He says out loud.

He listens and then hears a noise within. A tapping. Some breaths. Now she stands up in

the crack, grinning. He is startled and jumps away from the hole. As he moves, he bangs his head

hard on one of the bubinga rafters. He puts his hand to the spot but finds no blood. He then looks

up at the rafter as if it struck him.

Thing! he says.

The dust moves around him. A breeze begins rising from the savannah at the promontory

near the village edge. Little dirt specks pelt the hut. They blow past the altar on the promontory

cliff and up the row of Ashirah poles to where Pyramie stands. The dirt specks sound like rain.

Holding his head, the sound soothes him. Then from the crack he hears her giggle, beautiful like

the flowers beside where the water falls and the berries grow free. He listens, intent. There is

nothing more he wants than her, but his impulse is languageless. No one gives him the words.

The Gatherer mothers and fathers never speak of it. They connect the word with their task and

collect food for the people. What Pyramie knows instead is that Theo is like a present he must

steal time to see. He thinks of nothing other than her during the day while gathering. He found

her some seasons ago in the outer garden. He had only seen her before at the head of ceremonies

or slaughters.

She is supposed to be a gift to all, and when he saw her that day he wondered what she

would give to him. He was not supposed to have been there, however. He had seen berries

through the briar and he climbed through the live wall. When he had pushed his way through the

thicket she was there on a rock among flowers, laughing. An Elder had just left her, having

taught her some talking words. Pyramie was afraid, but she was not. The feathers she wore with

animal skins were so different from the leaves he must wear.


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Theo giggles again inside the hut and breaks his path of memory. She whispers through

the wall. You are clumsy.

He whispers back, I am not. He is angered now; embarrassed but excited.

She says, Can you kiss?

He hates when she says the things he does not know. I kiss all the time.

Then kiss the wall, and I will kiss the wall and through it we will kiss each other.

A moment goes by. Have you kissed it? she asks.

He does not respond and she becomes frustrated. You dont know what kissing is.

I do.

You do not.

Of course I do, he says, getting close to the crack so that his words are louder.

Whodo you kiss then, Gatherer?

I kiss Dogo.

You probably do. Now look through, and I will show you.

She shows him, and then he kisses the wall, and she kisses the wall and through it they

kiss each other.

I am the first person you kissed, she says.

No, you are not.

I am, and it is important. You love me.

I kissed the wall, he says.

We kissed each other.

Wekissed the wall.

You do not want to kiss me, then?


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I do want to kiss you.

Then you have to find me tomorrow and kiss me and make it so it does not go away.

He thinks for a moment, confused. Come out here now.

But before she responds there is a noise behind her in the opening. Something in the

darkness moves.

Then they hear the voice. Theo! It says. Theo! It says again. She freezes. So too does

Pyramie.

Theo! Who are you talking to?

No one, daddy.

Do not lie.

Pyramie backs away from the opening. On the second step, he bumps against a pillar

where none had been before. His heart wobbles. He knows who it must be.

Terreo walks around at night. He is the warrior. They say he never sleeps. Many believe

that he is powerful because he has been with Ashirah. He climbed the high place where no one

goes and found her. Because of his bravery she made him a daemon for his people.

They say because of this, the Others wouldnt fight him when he took the field. They

gave their daughters to him instead. They gave their land. They gave their gods.

The Gatherers fear him also. Sometimes he kills them. If the Gatherers violate the way,

they are abducted for trial. They are taken at night. There are groups they call Hunters. The

Hunters come and take you. But they never kill. Terreo kills. When he administers justice, the

priest Dahtahpaints him in victims blood. Anointed in that blood they call him terror. Terreo.

At the altar beside the cliff the Terror takes the criminal Gatherer into his hands. The

criminal Gatherer cries out, shaking; wetting himself. The women hiss. Terreo lifts the man off


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his trembling feet. Spume from his nose and mouth fall upon the altar. There he takes the knife

and digs it into the Gatherers flesh above where his life cord was cut. Terreo must do this on his

own. No one can help him. It is the Way. But his strength is unceasing. He digs the blade in with

the one hand and with the other holds the criminal Gatherer by the wrists. The Gatherer shouts

until his voice cracks. When Terreo makes a proper opening he puts the knife at the head of the

altar and with his left hand presses against the writhing mans chest while with his right pulls out

the intestine. It is pink, in spots, almost white. It has a seeming skin. But as he pulls, it dislodges

from the fan and vein that holds it and the frothy blood pours and sprinkles all around. The man

whines, crying for the Mothers mercy. She does not show it. She covers her face instead with

the peacocks feathers and allows for Ashirahs justice to be complete. The Gift is beside her.

The criminal Gatherer cannot move now. He only releases bellows that frighten the crows

out from their trees. By the hundreds they fly away. The women hiss louder and the other

Gatherers shout vulgar words and runes. Terreo wraps the intestines end around the dark pillar

at the edge of the promontory cliff. The Gatherer sees this with his head off the altar. He writhes

some, but his shouts have subsided. Then with a violent motion Terreo rips the Gatherer into the

air. Blood is raining. Pausing for a second Terreo looks over the edge, down to the shattered

crags more than four tree heights below; he then throws him over to be unwound. In the distance

the painted canine Dogo is barking on his tether by the Gatherers hut.

Pyramie thinks of this ritual in the moment before Terreo grabs him by the neck and

hoists him up to the level of his eyes. Terreo does not speak. He merely looks at the boy whom

he holds by the back of the neck in a hideous grip. Pyramie is limp. His arms have fallen to his

sides. Terreo then walks him to the front of the Leaders hut, his feet dangling. The Leader

stands there, little Theo beside him. She has tears in her eyes and her hair is out of braids.


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Pyramie sniffles too, but he wants to stop so that she will not see. Her big eyes are open wide as

she stares at him.

Why are you at my daughters wall? the Leader says.

Pyramie cannot speak. He tries not to vomit.

Will you clean that from this ground? the Leader says.

Daddy!

He pays Theo no attention, but then she shouts again and pulls his leg. You said.

He looks at her and considers. Then he says, Bring him back to the Gatherers quarters.

What is your name?

Pyramie does not speak. He tries not to vomit.

Speak. Say your name. Speak!

Pyramie tightens. He moves his arms, says, My name is Pyramie.

Let him go.

Terreo drops him.

Pyramie runs away, wiping his eyes, feeling hate for the Leader and Terreo.


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Chapter 2

Pyramie is sick. The memory never leaves him, and when he sleeps he dreams terrible dreams of

wild men and sky fire engulfing him on the savannah. He sees Terreos face. He squirms in the

bunched grasses. The sky turns red above him. Their eyes are all on him.

The Gatherer mother at the head of his row slaps his face. He awakens, sweating. Marnea

does not like him. She never has. Now that he has overslept she can be cruel to him, and she

seems ready to strike him again but he stands. He steps out from his bedding and sees the other

boys laughing and the girls gathering by the door in pairs, pointing. He has tears in his eyes, and

his head throbs from the violent sleep he has had.

Get into your group, Marnea says to him.

Like the rest, he wears thatched leaves. He pulls them on now as he groups together with

his partner, Nonna. Nonna is older than Pyramie. He is supposed to be teaching Pyramie how to

forage correctly, where to go and how to come back on time by the sun.

Nonna walks out, and Pyramie follows him through the round earth opening with the

animal-skin flap and into the daylight where everyone has gathered for labor. There are some

Fishers who are just returning from the river with baskets of fish. These men give the fish to the

Gatherer mothers, who are seated by the large blue stone where they rip the flesh and scales with

jagged rock knives. They then cut the fish into strips and hand pieces over to other mothers who

rub the meat with ground spices from the berries. This cold meat they wrap in green leaves with

figs and hand off to the Gatherer men who file past in silent lines.

When the Gatherer men are in line to receive their morning food, the Hunters mix in

among them and take their own portions to sit on logs beside each other. The Fishers also cut


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into the line and take their food in similar fashion and then move to the logs in their own area.

The Fishers sit apart from the Gatherers, as they are thought to hold higher standing, but not so

high that they are considered Hunters.

The Hunters are supposed to keep order, but they do so only when there is a need. The

Gatherers have learned the Way now and so there is not often a reason for the Hunters to intrude

on the day. They use their time to be made Warriors instead, or they stalk food on the Savannah.

They dress the animals in the field and then carry back the cold meat in groups, where it is dried

or eaten fresh with its own blood and leaves and nuts for seasoning. The fresh blood is a choice

dish, and there are many ways to prepare it, but it is acknowledged that Acka, one of the

Gatherer mothers, makes the best blood. And though she is not allowed by law to keep a secret

and therefore shares her method, no other Gatherer mother can match her. Some of the Gatherer

mothers do not like this special skill and speak ill of Acka, but the men prize her work so highly

there is talk she should be set aside to do all the preparation for meat on special days.

Acka serves Pyramie his food. Marnea watches from the hut entrance. She can do nothing

but glare at Acka. And when Acka pats Pyramies head and gives him a second helping of

striped river fish, Marnea turns and walks over to the row of ground holes where they crush the

tall grass to make the paste with water they will all eat later. She walks there muttering. Acka

does not see her. Instead she says to Pyramie, Tonight we will have dinner, and I will set aside

some meat for you.

He smiles and feels happy as she pats his head again and sends him off to eat his morning

food with the Gatherer children.

Pyramie then sits beside Nonna. Nonna had been watching him with Acka and watches

him approach. When he sits, Nonna says to him, Give me that surplus piece.


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I wont, Pyramie says.

You will or Ill tell one of the Fishers that you are getting surplus from Acka when there

is a drought. She puts her hands on you.

She does not. Here. Pyramie hands over the fish.

The fig, too!

He gives Nonna the fig and sits to finish what he has left on his leaf. When he is done he

twists up the leaf so that it forms a spiral at its end like a flower bud. Then he holds the leaf

before him and thinks of Theo, but Nonna says to him, Why are you holding that like that?

Throw it away.

I like it.

It is garbage. Throw it away.

But Pyramie hangs the leaf off the cord at his waist.

You are a child. You should go play with the wild man beyond the gate.

Pyramie does not listen, and then the call to work is given and Nonna stands to follow the

Gatherers off into the forest. Pyramie follows behind, but he does not keep his head down as the

others do. The group continues moving and walks past the rostrum by the promontory cliff then

turns and bows to the Ashirah poles in a row. Pyramie follows the rest in this and then moves on.

He is tired enough this morning and is dragging his feet. But when Nonna sees Pyramie lagging,

he pokes him and Pyramie makes certain to lift his feet as he walks.

At the end of the long huts they come to the dirt trail that leads down to the

savannah. Here they must walk single-file. Pyramie knows the ants come out of their mounds in

rows just like this. Entering the trail, Pyramie grabs the same vine for support every day. He

follows the vine down for many steps. He moves swiftly. Nonna will not use the vine and so


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must walk much slower. Most of the Gatherers use the vine here. But it is said that the Hunters

do not need the vine, and so Nonna says he does not need the vine either. He tells Pyramie that

Terreo is his father, and it is only a matter of time before he comes to make him one of the

Hunters and then he can be a Warrior. But Pyramie does not listen to Nonna when he talks.

Instead he looks out through the forest canopy yellowed in spots from drought. He looks at the

birds and names them; or looks at the different animals and wonders at what they are called.

When he asks Nonna what they are named, Nonna makes up names, but he never says the same

ones twice and so Pyramie stops asking.

When they reach the bottom of the vine, the trail takes a hard turn to the right. For a

moment the canopy opens and reveals the broken-rock-strewn bottom of the precipice where no

one goes. Here Pyramie stops to make out skeletons shattered on the rocks. He sees a skull

planted on a sapling top between crags. But he cannot stand for long. Nonna comes behind him

and gives him a shove.

Keep moving, he says. You will never learn.

Pyramie is not allowed to go to the bottom of the precipice and look at the skeletons. It is

against their Way. But at times when he is out at night he hears the painted canines there howling

in the moonlight. They rip the bodies that lie there, and Pyramie is afraid of them. It is said to be

a good omen when the dogs howl after the bodies because they are said to be Her dogs, and that

She accepts the bodies into the earth with the screeching of the painted canines.

The Gatherers round another bend. The ground flattens. Here the forest is moist even in

drought and sprouts brilliant greens with buds at the tips. The colors remind Pyramie of the strips

of colored sky after it rains in the sun. And then the trail ends and they come out flat on the gold


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grass floor that continues as far as they can see. Ahead, and dotted throughout, stand islands of

trees and bushes browned in the sun.

They are not allowed into the forest to the right of the savannah by the crags where it is

steep. But to the left, the edge of the grass turns into hills where the forests begin again. In the

low spots there the forest is less dense but strewn with berries and other foods, and edibles that

find water from the ground.

The Gatherers head into this sparse forest and fan out to get as much food as they can for

the day. In the drought, the amount of food they have stored would not last with all the mouths to

feed, and so they must come forage every day. They concentrate on different areas at different

times. In a few months they will head much farther down-valley by the river, where the autumn

food is found. But in this season, the berries grow just beyond the charred and blackened area

where the winter food used to be. In winter they had only to walk to the trails end, but since last

season, when the sky fire came and burned the forest down, they no longer have that ease.

The sky fire came out of the clouds on a day when Ashirah was angry with them. They

did not make enough sacrifices to her, they had not kept faith, and so she did not protect them

from the storm of fire in jagged blue lines. It struck the ground in the winter harvest area where it

was dry from lack of rain. There, the trees and the bushes burned to standing sticks. The only

ones happy after that were the orange-and-black painted canines that howled when the sun went

down until the moon was up and gone twice eating sacrifices. Their howling as they ate was loud

enough that Dogo could hear and howled back to them. But his black-and-red mushroom ears

were a hindrance to him then because when he howled, one of the Hunters, Kakoaw, beat him

with a bubinga stick to quiet him in the night. Dogo yelped, and Pyramie watched from the


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bushes on his way to Theos. He wished that Dogo had bit Kakaows throat, but instead Dogo

put his head down, with his paws on his snout, and cried.

Pyramie remembers this and feels bad for Dogo. He was an abandoned painted canine

pup and the Gatherer mothers fed him. They did not know whether Dogos mother had left him

for some reason or if she had been killed, they only knew that he cried to them from the

savannah edge. When Acka retrieved him he whelped and curled into her arms. The Astarte had

never kept one of the painted canines before, but Dogo was friendly and even Marnea warmed to

him.

Now Pyramie wishes that Dogo could come forage with him. If that could be, he would

get rid of Nonna and just have Dogo as a partner. But as it stands he is stuck with Nonna, whose

age is his only advantage. Nonna even picks slow, and is always wrong about the time of the sun

in the sky. Pyramie knows better, but Nonna will not listen. And Pyramie picks faster, but Nonna

does not care. He has already picked two full baskets and Nonna has yet to finish one, and two

baskets is the amount the Gatherer mothers ask for from children.

Now that he has filled the baskets, Pyramie takes them up to be emptied so that he can go

off for lunch. He walks over to the row of many baskets where Marnea stands collecting. When

she sees him she glares, and he puts his head down and lays the baskets before her callused feet.

Where is your partner? she asks.

He is still picking.

Then why are you not still picking? Go back and help Nonna finish his basket.

But he picks slow.

Marnea grabs his ear and turns his body to face in the direction he came from. Go! She

says.


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But when Pyramie starts walking, Nonna comes running up the trail with two full

baskets. He lays the baskets at Marneas feet. She sneers. Did Pyramie leave you to finish these

by yourself?

Nonna looks at Pyramie and smirks. Pyramie puts his head down. He knows that Nonna

will hurt him when he can. Then Nonna says, No. He only walked faster than I on the trail. I

had to pee in the woods, but I told him to go ahead.

Pyramie raises his eyes. Nonna stands smiling in Marneas face with his big gapped teeth

showing and his cheeks scrunched up tightly. Pyramie realizes when he sees the grin that Nonna

hates Marnea too.

Get away from me, she says. Go eat lunch where I cannot see you.

And the two children run away pushing each other as they go.

You owe me, Nonna says.

Wewill see, says Pyramie, and they laugh and push each other again.

They then take food from the baskets at the place where it is handed out and go and sit

away together on the savannah edge. There they are sure not to encounter Marnea when she

takes her food. They do not talk. Pyramie finishes the paste and berries and wraps his leaves up

again so that they look like the petals of flowers. This time he does not show Nonna. He just puts

them on his waist and says nothing. Then Nonna points down the line between forest and

savannah to where the blackened area begins.

Look.

What is that? Pyramie says.

There, a cluster of red flowers is stuck together, hanging from a burnt tree. But when the

boys stand together to get a better look, something else takes their attention.


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Theo steps out of the forest in front of them. Her braids hang to the low of her back. She

is dressed in bright feathers. When Nonna sees her he falls to his knees, but Pyramie does not

move, and Nonna hits the backs of his legs so that he falls prostrate. Pyramie does not want

Nonna to know about her.

Theo breaks the silence. I came to see you Gatherers harvest. But I think I am lost. One

of you, take me back to the village.

Nonna stands. Ill do it, he says.

No. I do not like your teeth, she says. You, boy, help me!

And Pyramie stands. Though they are the same age, he likes when she calls him boy.

When he stands, she turns on her heel and walks off in the other direction, causing him to run

and catch up to her while Nonna looks on. She then takes a trail in the direction of the village,

moving quickly.


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Chapter 3

Come, I want to show you something, Theo says.

The trail winds off and reaches the blackened forest edge where the berries are sparse.

We should not be here, says Pyramie.

Quiet.

Then she points to the edge of the forest. See. She points to the bundle of red flowers in

bloom on the charcoaled tree. One of your women put that. Do you know what that means?

He does not answer and she smiles at him. They walk farther and she leads him by the

hand. Here and there bushes begin to grow off the ground. But because there has not been rain,

many of the trees are not blooming as they would otherwise be in the charcoal. But he does not

see this. He only watches Theo until they come to a massive old tree with wild crooked branches

that stands crisp from top to bottom.

Here, she says.

And when he stops walking he hears the noise sounding off some distance ahead in the

woods.

Do you hear her? She points.

Just ahead Kakoaw is pressed deeply against Marnea behind her knees. Her mouth is

open.

She moans like a bullfrog, Theo says.

She looks like a bullfrog, Pyramie says.

They turn and run away, the moaning having stopped, and move farther into the charred

forest laughing. Theo leads until they reach a deep bower ringed around by red flowers. Water


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here seeps from off the hillside edge and flows underground. She sits on the wide crown of a

freshly fallen tree. Shoots of buds and greens of all shades spring up around her where she sits.

She pulls on Pyramies hand as he hesitates, looking at the sky above growing dark quickly. She

pulls again and he sits.

Have you seen that?

He does not answer.

That is where you are from.

The tree? He says.

The forest.

He does not respond.

That is how Gatherers breed. They put flowers for Hunters.

He hates when she says the things he does not know, but he will not move. Her eyes are

on him. He meets them. Do you put flowers?

No. I am not a breeder. I will be in love.

What is that?

She does not say. Instead: You promised you would kiss me last night.

But he is looking off. I think rain is coming.

This is silly, she says, I am leaving.

Do not go.

Why? she says, and sits back down.

I do not want you to go.

She smiles. You said.


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He remembers the night before, how Terreo came. Then he shakes that thought off and

remembers what she taught him. When he remembers, he smiles. I will kiss you.

But she turns away. You were supposed to find me today.

How could I find you?

Dont be afraid of Terreo. He is just a bully.

There is a flash in the near distance and then the sound of the sky.

It will rain, I think, he says.

Do you only care about the sky?

The sky fire, he says, pointing off to where the light streaks but does not touch the

earth.

That is a silly name you are taught.

What else? but she laughs at him again.

I do not like when you laugh at me, he says. I will go back now, and he walks out of

the bower, but when he reaches the edge, she says, Sorry, and he turns to sit where she sits. He

waits there for a moment, looking at her skin. Then he remembers.

Taking the rolled leaves off his waist, he says I made you these.

She smiles when she sees what he has made. They look real, like before the buds come.

Then she reaches out her hand. When she takes them, she brushes her fingertips down his

forearm causing the hairs to rise and the bumps to form. She is looking at him. I cannot have

you if you are afraid of them.

There are more flashes and rumbles. The sky is darkening. Then the sky fire hits the

ground by the end of the fallen tree. Pyramie throws himself down, his ears ringing. But Theo

stays where she is, laughing at him for his fear. And when he raises his head she is looking at


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him with her brown eyes. He feels guilt and looks away from her and over to where the sky fire

struck. On the ground, old bark from the dead tree glows alight. Pyramie is terrified by the fire in

the sky, but he is interested in it when it is on the ground. It does not seem so awful then, and he

walks over to the spot where it burns.

What are you doing? Theo asks.

I want to see it, he says.

You are not supposed to touch it. It is not yours.

It is not yours, either! He bends down and picks up a long hunk of bark on fire. He

holds it and smiles. Then he turns and holds the flaming end against a section of the tree that was

not burned. In a moment, it shows a small flame on the dry bark that soon goes out and begins

smoking.

Look, he says.

Stop it. Stop fooling with it. Now, Gatherer!

But he will not stop. He turns and holds the flame up against the stalk of a green bud.

When it touches, the stalk curls up and browns. The smell is terrible. He smiles when he sees it

shrivel and points to show her what it does. She seems interested and walks toward him with a

beautiful smile that warms him. When she gets close, he grabs her with his free hand and kisses

her.

You love me, she says. Her eyes glisten. Her lips are soft, and they taste like her voice

sounds. He kisses her again. He wants to ask her how she means that word, but he sees Marnea

standing at the edge of the bower with hatred in her eye. He pulls away from Theo. To his right

Kakoaw stands holding a short spear with a sharp stone lashed to its end by dry game intestines.

He stabs toward Pyramie with the spear. But he does not come close. He is fixated on the fire in


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Pyramies hand while Marnea is screaming at the edge of the opening. You enchanted her, she

says. Dont be afraid of the boy, Kakoaw.

Stand away from us, Theo says.

He is a devil, Kakoaw says, I must kill him.

You will not touch him!

Pyramie stands rock rigid. He controls himself, but he is afraid until he sees the boyish

fear in the man before him. He waves the fire at Kakoaw, and Kakoaw jumps away. He feels safe

behind the fire that protects him from the Hunter. But then he turns and Marnea is running closer

to him. Theo shouts to stop the Gatherer woman, but she moves forward toward Pyramie without

fear.

He holds up the fire and expects that she will also be afraid and then he can run off into

the trees. He does not know where he can go. All he knows is his village world and the trail to

the harvest. Outside of that he can only guess. But he knows that Marnea has always hated him.

He cannot say why, and he is afraid of what she will do to him if she grabs him. He knows too

that it is against the Way for him to touch the sky fire. She will surely bring him back and give

him to Dahtahno one will protect him then, not even Acka.

When he thinks this he thrusts the small burning bark ahead of him and says, Get away,

but she comes forward without fear and smacks it out of his hand. Then she smacks him hard

across the face and knocks him headlong against the tree. He is dizzy, his face stings, and she

comes forward and grabs his hair, dragging him over to Kakoaws feet.

Take him to the village. You will come with me. She points at Theo.

You cannot talk to me like that, Theo says.


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He poisoned you. You must be purified. And she takes Theo by the hand and walks off

toward the village.

You cannot touch me. Stop touching me, Gatherer.

You have violated the Way. I will bring you for them to decide.

Stop.

Pyramie thinks that Marnea will let Theo go now that she has screamed. He has never

seen a Gatherer touch one of them before. They are not allowed. But he has never seen anyone

but Gatherers violate the way, and so maybe this is what Marnea must do. But he is not sure. He

is squirming and Kakoaw squeezes him.

As they move through the winter-harvest area Marnea drags Theo by her wrist while

Kakoaw holds Pyramie under his arm. Pyramie does not move. He lets his head dangle and

watches Kakoaws feet kicking the black-and-gray ash of the ground. He hears Theo ahead

making noise. Then he looks and sees her as she tries to pull away from Marneas grip.

You cannot touch me, Theo is saying as she is fighting with the large woman.

You have broken the Way. You were with that creature when he held the sky fire. The

sky fire is Hers. You will see what Dahtah says. He will know what we need. She pulls Theo

along again.

Pyramie wants to help her. He is not sure what will happen. Let her go, he says, but

when he speaks Kakoaw squeezes him again so that his wind stops and his words are cut off. He

hears himself make a strange sound and allows his body to go limp. Theo looks back at him and

tries to pull away to help him, but Marnea is big, and when she pulls back on Theos wrist the

girl falls and the woman begins to drag her.


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They soon reach the bottom of the steep trail and begin climbing. Pyramie watches the

trees now; he cannot see Theo the way his head hangs, but he knows that she is on her feet

because he hears her walking. And then they are at the top of the hill, passing the Gatherers

quarters. To the left is the platform on the promontory cliff. This is the altar where Terreo

cleanses the victims for Ashirah. Pyramie lifts his head to look where he knows they will put

him. In spots the gray stone is stained with red. There are two large stones there atop it: The altar

stone lies on its side and is about the height of a mans knee. The other flat stone is taller than a

mans waist and is the rostrum where the Leader speaks to the assembled. And behind these

stones is the drum of dried stomach over a bramble frame with the fur-wrapped femur to make

the percussion out over the savannah.

From there, the village is an arrow that points away from the platform and ends at

Dahtahs hut. Whereas the Gatherers quarters are huddled in the trees by the stage at the village

edge, most of the Hunters quarters and the Elders huts lie in two lines along the row of Ashirah

poles; though a few Hunters guard huts are in the forest by the savannah trail.

When the tribe assembles for sacrifices, Dahtah and his Followers walk along one side of

the poles, while the Elders and Hunters move along the other. The Leader and the Mother come

after Dahtah in proper ceremonies. They live in the big hut near the priest, by where the

Mothers women sleep. The Gatherers are not allowed to walk in this direction up-village unless

they are summoned, and Pyramie remembers how Terreo caught him there by the Leaders hut.

Now that they have caught him again breaking the Way, he knows what they will do.


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Chapter 4

When they reach the platform, Marnea screams for Dahtah. Kakoaw has put Pyramie to his feet

and holds him at arms length by the back of his neck. The village is empty. But as Marnea

continues to scream, some of the Mothers women come from the Leaders hut. These young

women are whispering to each other through the flap opening. A few of them point at Theo while

the others point at Pyramie. He feels embarrassed and wants to hide from their eyes. They are

slender in their feathers and giggle at him. He looks away and feels his face grow warm.

Opposite from the hut where these women stand, two Elders in forbidden animal skins

step out from where they have been holding council concerning the drought. They first look at

the Mothers women at the entrance to the Leaders hut, but when Marnea screams again the

Elders turn to her. They seem confused, but soon their faces become angry. And when they see

who she is holding, they duck back inside where the others are grouped together. Pyramie hopes

that they stay inside the hut. Kakoaw is still squeezing his neck, but this is better than what they

will do to him. Then the Elders come out of their hut all together. The Leader emerges behind

them. He sees Theo being pulled along by a Gatherer woman and he pushes through the Elders,

an entire head taller than the rest, and shouts: Why, Gatherer, do you touch her?!

Marnea immediately falls to her knees. She was with him in the burned area. He was

holding the sky fire in his hands and would have taken her if I had not arrived and Kakoaw was

not close enough to hear me scream. Marnea is breathless; shouting. When she finishes her

defense, she begins again calling Dahtah. Pyramie knows this is not the proper way that Dahtah

is called for the village, but he keeps silent, hoping they catch Marnea for her breach and give

her to Ashirah for her crimes. But the Leader does not do anything to stop her screaming laments

for the priest. He seems to be waiting for Dahtah himself and is also confused about what is


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happening. But this is just a passing thought. When Pyramie sees Dahtah emerge from the mouth

of his hut, all thought stops. He no longer thinks of what Marnea has done to break the Way, as

he knows that they will not punish her now. They will elevate her because of what she has found

him doing.

When Dahtah emerges from the hut, he squints in the sun. He has white chalk in his hair

and some on his face. He stands in the opening and watches the village. For a moment he is

motionless like one of the poles. Pyramie does not know what he is doing, but then Dahtah runs

forward. His Followers behind him look frightened by his sudden run and they chase him in a

line, while other Followers remain behind.

There, also at the opening to Dahtahs, Pyramie sees some of the virgins emerge to

watch. They do not leave the mouth of the hut; instead they remain in the shadow. When the

sunlight hits them they pull back. Some of them are whispering while others faces look cold and

dead. They are painted to look that way with the white pummeled stone and the black ash from

the forest. But Pyramie has never seen them before. He has only heard the stories of why they

live there and their special devotion. He knows very little and is now searching their eyes. He

wants to see more of them, but Dahtah has gotten close to him and stops.

His nostrils flare and his eyes are wild, but after he looks over the faces of the Gift and

Marnea, he breaks out running again. Marnea inclines her face to the dirt, yet Theo stands firm

and does not move. He passes the Ashirah pole and runs down by the altar where she stands.

Dahtah is sinewy. He holds a virgins skull on a staff in his hand and walks up beside Theo,

sniffing her from the ground up. Pyramie is watching. She is not afraid and looks at Dahtah like

he is insignificant. He is right up close to her face and is breathing hard. His nostrils push out and

in. Then he turns on Marnea, who is shaking.


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He held the sky fire. She points at Pyramie from the dirt where she has prostrated

herself. Her nose is dripping and dust is stuck to the places on her face that are moist. Please.

She was with him. He held the sky fire and was killing the greens and she was with him. She was

with him. She is shaking her finger up at Theo until Dahtah holds his hand in front of her face.

Theo looks at her like she is an insect. Marnea stops talking and Dahtah whispers something.

He then turns and looks at Pyramie. Pyramie looks away, but Dahtah has leapt forward

and grabbed his face in one hand. He takes him by the hair. Pyramie can feel himself crying, but

it is as if another person is doing it. He is trying to hide it, but Dahtah sticks a finger into the eye

of the virgin skull he carries on a staff. He pulls his finger out, covered in blood, and flicks it,

splattering blood into Pyramies face. Pyramie flinches and Dahtah splatters him again,

observing how Pyramie responds as though there is much wisdom to be gained from this action.

Dots of crimson stain Pyramie and he does not like how the blood feels warm against his

face. He cries more now. Dahtahs eyes are so large. There are so many colors that Pyramie

cannot look away. And Dahtah is shouting at him in mystery runes; first jumping forward so that

Pyramie blinks and then falling to his knees on the ground facing the Leader. Dahtah shouts,

carrying on in grunts and shaking his hands in seizures. Every one of his movements is

frightening to Pyramie, but he is struggling to stop himself from crying further. He knows Theo

is watching. He does not want her to know that he is afraid. He grits his teeth and wipes his eyes.

Now he stops crying and looks at Theo.

He wants to not be afraid for her. He wishes he had not been afraid at all. She is looking

away from him though, and this makes him feel shame and anger. But he cannot act. Dahtah

turns from him and implores the Leader in a tongue. He says another mystery rune, and then


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Ashirah, Ashirah, Ashirahand points back to Pyramie. The Leaders eyes widen. Pyramies

body is shaking, but he is still trying to stop and stand straight.

Then the Leader speaks: It was you at my hut, Pyramie. He says the name like he is

spitting out food that has rotted. Pyramie, he says again, and Pyramie looks away. He will not

look at the Leader, because the fear he has of him is so much greater than what he feels for

Dahtah that he would begin to cry again. And he will not.

What are you?

But Pyramie does not answer. The group of Elders is forming around them now, talking

in whispers as they observe Pyramie and then Theo. They talk; some point at her, others at him,

while still others point to the sky. They are enacting what happened. One of them brings Marnea

up from the ground and they finish asking her questions. Then they talk among themselves until

one of their number summons Kakoaw also to answer questions. Pyramie cannot hear them, but

he sees Kakoaw waving his hand as Pyramie had waved the flame earlier. Then they stop and

look at Pyramie. They all make a noise together, and Dahtah calls Her name again while the

Elders shake their heads and turn to the Leader to see how he will respond. But his eyes are fixed

on Pyramie. He has been listening to the talk and his face has been reddening. The Leaders eyes

are bloodshot, and Pyramie catches them for only a brief moment and looks away thinking that

he will kill him with his naked hands there in the dirt. But the Leader does not move. He lets out

a long breath. Some of the Mothers women have mixed in among the Elders. They are

watching. And then the Leader holds up his hand and says one word. He says the name Terreo.

There is a sound among the people, and Pyramie feels what he thinks is the sky fire

shooting through his body. He will still not cry, and he fixes his eyes on Theo so that he has

something better to think about. She is a whole world to him now. He thinks to himself that he


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loves her just as she said he did, and though he does not know the meaning of this word, he

thinks that what he feels must be what she meant.

He struggles to think of her in the forest with flowers, but it is difficult. When the Leader

shouts Terreo! one of the Elders moves to the rostrum by the promontory cliff and begins to

bang the large drum. He clutches the swathed femur and swings. He is sweating under the sun,

but he bangs with vigor. The sounds echo out over the savannah. He bangs for a time until the

Gatherers and everyone around begin to assemble from the trail. They form a group near the

platform, and some Hunters coming from the forest start to herd everyone back toward the

village center and away from the platform. They crowded too near to Theo, and so the Hunters

moved them away. But she is standing in a place in the dirt they have never seen her in before,

and so they thought it right to examine her. All the Astarte are out to see the platform except for

the Mother and some of her more preferred women. The Mother herself has not arrived; it is not

her place to come until the deliberation is over, not while the drum still sounds. She will come

later and indicate her pleasure with the ceremony.

When all are assembled in their places, Terreo steps out of the dry forest. He places his

foot into the dust of the open space between the huts. The Gatherers all look to him. He is

wearing light animal pelts and has lines of red blood painted down his face and chest. He stands

carrying a single spear. He is massive. There are human bones tied into his hair. And he keeps

ears on rawhide around his neck. When he walks forward, the Gatherers breathe in together and

stand rigid. He walks toward them and they avert their eyes. Then he mounts the stage beside the

rostrum. He does not take a place in deliberation with the Elders. He has only one use now.

The Elders talk amongst themselves in their forbidden animal skins. It is their time to

decide what will be done. The sacrifice will happen, but how it will happen is what they


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deliberate over. This is important, as how She receives her sacrifice will determine whether she

accepts it, and the Elders must read many signs before they are sure what the right way will be.

On some occasions it is appropriate for Terreo to strangle the victim to death. This is so that

Ashirah will take the sacrifice whole. Other times he must break the victims back in two. This is

so that She will know they are breaking away from an incorrect path. Other times Terreo

unwinds the victims. This is so that She will see what is inside them when they have violated the

Way. In this their wickedness will be devoured. The Elders turn to Marnea so that she may speak

final words for the others to hear.

He touched it! He was touching it, and she was smiling! She told him how to do it!

They think about what she says and nod their heads. Then the Elders allow Kakoaw to

speak.

The boy is a devil, he says. He held the sky fire in his hand. I saw him. He tried to

touch me with it, but I wouldnt let him. When they hear this, the Gatherers who are now

standing around in a group release a collective sigh. They had not heard until this moment what

Pyramie had done. Before this, all they knew was that a meeting had been called by the large

drum. And when they hear the charge some say, The sky fire, no! while others beg for

Ashirahs forgiveness. Others still gesture at Pyramie, but he will not look at them because he

knows that they want to hurt him. He instead continues to focus only on Theo.

The Elders then join together at the foot of the platform. They have come to a decision.

The Gatherers watch them. After a time of talking, one of the Elders steps forward and walks

over to the Leader. He whispers into the Leaders ear. The Leader is angry and does not say a

word. Their deliberation is complete and it is the final method that they have chosen. Pyramie

will be unwound. They make the signal by reaching to their bellies that push out through their


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special animal skins. Terreo merely acknowledges their choice by shaking his head up and down

and looking at the boy. When he does so, the Leader turns and walks up behind the rostrum. He

is going to inform the Gatherers and the others assembled of the verdict and the crime. The sky

above is blue and spotless and the wind comes in off the savannah. All the Astarte are assembled

by the row of Ashirah poles that leads to this stone platform. The drum continues beating and

then is made silent when the Leader speaks.

When the drum stops, no one else makes a sound. And while Pyramie does not look away

from Theo he knows that all eyes are on him. Then Dahtah grabs him and drags him over before

the rostrum. Theo is sobbing. But the Mother is coming from her hut and shields Theo in a fan of

luminous green, yellow, and black feathers. She holds Theos face to her bosom while other

women stand around them and shake the leaves over her body.

This is not a child, the Leader then says, pointing to Pyramie.

Pyramie watches Theo with the Mother. He does not like that Theo is crying. He wants to

help her stop. He wants to break away and make them stop what is making her cry. Then he

looks up just as Dahtah grabs his arm to drag him to the platform.

Dahtah pulls his hair to exhibit him before the crowds. But Pyramie does not want to be

presented to the people in this way. He hears Theo make a noise. She is in pain and he wildly

lashes out and strikes the pubic region of Dahtah. He moans and falls over, and the Gatherers

sigh as his staff topples onto the ground and the blood drains out. But he immediately rises and

strikes the child hard across the face, shouting symbol words at Pyramie who bleeds in the dirt

but does not move. He is hurt. The blow has made him dizzy. He no longer thinks of helping

Theo. Now his head is beating like the drum. And Dahtah, now raising his dirty staff with the

childs skull, shouts up to the Leader. He points.


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Ashirah, says Dahtah, and then glares at Pyramie and twists his heel into the dirt,

making jagged lines with his staff that have meaning for them.

The Leader has raised his hands. The people who were talking about what Pyramie did

are all quiet. And the Leader speaks again. Do you see how he acts? Not respectful. This is not

the way of a Gatherer child. He is an evil devil. For this time we suffer under drought, this

devils wickedness brings the drought here. He brings the disdain of Ashirah. The Elders are

knowing that evil is here from time, but they must wait until it is revealed. Now they know it is

he.

We have found him in the burned forest. This devil skin was going to pregnate the Gift

with a seed whose product child would overturn our order in Ashirahs grace.

The crowd moves with the rhythm of the Leaders word. He looks over them. Seeing his

words reach them he continues. He held the sky fire in his hands. The sky fire. With this, he

burned the winter harvest so that you would lose your faith in Her. It is in that place he made

barren that he dazzled the Gifts eyes with it so he could pregnate and make the one who will

curse. He only looks to be a child. Now we must slaughter him for Her honor. We must slaughter

him for the tomorrow. He must be unwound so his wickedness will be revealed.

The men shout. The women hiss. And Hunters rush to grab Pyramie while the Leader

steps down from the stage. All the while Theo had been crying, but now she stops and stands

silent with her back to the Mother. Facing the platform, she shoos away the women trying to

comfort her with fanning leaves and looks up to Pyramie.

The world spins around him now. In his eyes all faces blur. All the sounds become one

rhythm. But he can hear Dogo barking just at the edge of the crowd. Dogo will not stop, and

Pyramie worries that a Hunter might hurt him. He thinks about this as they bring him up toward


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the altar behind the rostrum. They drag him past the Gatherer women all assembled and hissing

in his face. Marnea spits on him. He wonders if Acka is there among those screaming for him to

die.

The Hunters bring Pyramie to the edge of the altar, where Dahtah pours the remaining

blood from the childs skull over Terreos head in the ceremony. He is saying more runes that are

mysteries for only them to know. Pyramie sees hunks of dirt mixed in the blood against Terreos

flesh as he is grabbed by the neck and pulled upward. From Terreos red, wet grip, Pyramie

looks out over the village. He is squirming. He sees Dogo barking. Dogo is running back and

forth and then in circles by the long hut, marking a line in the dirt where he runs. Then suddenly

he runs off in a sharp movement that breaks the twisted grasses that are tied around his neck. He

starts out running between the poles toward the stone platform.

Terreo hoists Pyramie onto the altar. When his back touches the stone, Pyramie begins to

think about what the blade will be like in his flesh. Then he refocuses on Dogos barking. His

barks are closer. People shout at Dogo. And then Dogo leaps onto the platform bearing his teeth

at Terreo. At that moment, Pyramie raises his head from the altar. He is happy to see Dogo as the

dog stands rushing in and out. He is loud. Spit shines on his teeth. Then he makes a final charge

across the platform. When he does this, Terreo turns, and, with a single look, stops Dogo. First

he lays still and then he walks off into the forest, tail down, with a whimper. Pyramie drops his

head and sobs to himself as Terreo then grabs both of Pyramies small wrists in his hand and

stretches them over his head. Now he will be unwound. He has seen the Gatherers unwound

before and wondered what type of people they were, but now he is one.


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It becomes hard for Pyramie to breathe. He no longer thinks of Theo. He is hysterical.

His breaths are short and his cries are like coughs. He is shaking, and his sobs come faster as his

chest contorts. Terreo holds the dacite blade above his head for all to see.

The blade will be warm, Pyramie decides. Not like her lips warm, but warm from mans

red anger. He closes his eyeshe will not learn more about how she meant lovebut as he

closes them a movement flashes behind Terreo.

Acka runs across the platform and jams a short wooden spear into Terreos side all the

way up to her hands. The point of the wood juts out of his belly and bloods sputters out onto

Pyramie and into his open mouth. Terreo releases his grip, and Pyramie vomits out the blood. He

sees Acka, crazed, endeavoring to pull out the spear to strike Terreo again. But Terreo turns

sharply, ripping the spear from her hands and then slashes across her throat with the dacite blade.

She reaches to the wound, gasping and gurgling airy blood in her throat that exhales into her

nose. Her eyes are wide like the moon and she stares at Pyramie as if with a question. At that

moment, Terreo grabs Acka and embraces her in his arms. He pulls her into the spear that sticks

out from his belly. He impales her, and she throbs for a moment until he pulls her away from

him. She wants to curl into a ball and lay down, because her head inclines toward her chest

where her rip seeps blood, but Terreo will not let her fall. He grasps her raised ankle with his

hand and then dashes her against the stone altar where Pyramie had been lying. He dashes her

there again and again and then flings her out over the precipice onto the crags below. Once he

releases her, he sinks to his knees and removes the spear with his own hands. Only then does he

realize that Pyramie has run away. And he sees some of the Hunters run off into the forest. The

Leader and Dahtah come to him.


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Chapter 5

Pyramie jumps off the altar and stands looking at Acka. She stares and does not take her eyes off

of him until her face fractures against the hard stone altar and her blood spatters on him. When

that happens, he backs away and looks at the Leader, who is standing erect beside Dahtah. They

both watch Terreo kill Acka. All the men, women, and children present fixate on Terreo; all

except for Theo, who is shouting at Pyramie. She is running toward him with a throng of women

surrounding her. Some of the women try to restrain her, but she pushes them away. She is tense.

Her women skitter after her like the flash of frightened fish.

Run, she says when she reaches the side of the platform. Why arent you running?

The Mother follows Theos progress with her eyes. She holds her hands outstretched,

with the feathers beckoning to Theo, but does not move toward her. Pyramie looks at them both.

Theo screams again, and a few of the Hunters in the crowd take notice. When Pyramie sees

them, he does not know what to do.

Run! she screams again. And he does, thinking only that the forest can keep him safe

nothing further than that. He heads for the opening, for the trail he has taken every day since he

was able. A few Hunters watch him go; they do not follow. They are in confusion with Terreo

wounded. But Kakoaw steps away from them. Beside him stands a Warrior, Meckle, who holds a

stone-headed club and spear and waves Kakoaw forward. When Pyramie enters the forest, they

run after him.

At that moment, the Leader leaps onto the platform with Dahtah. They grab Terreo. He is

drooping to his knees. Slumping badly, his mouth dripping blood, they hold him while the

Gatherers herd the platform and look upon the daemon they never dared look at before. Terreo


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convulses. When he does, Dahtah shouts to his Followers, who turn and run back to Dahtahs hut

for the ointments and balms. When they reach the hut, they search around the edge for the two

thatched bags that hold the different-colored pulps. A Follower takes off the top of one of the

bags and reaches in with a dried gourd, digging out the green ointment that smells like mold.

When he has this in hand he digs into the other and retrieves the red pulp and hands the gourd to

the Follower beside him. Running in fear, they return with the items. Dahtah stands waiting for

them. The Gatherers surround him, pressing against the platform, trying to see Terreo. When the

Followers return they must push their way through the Gatherers to reach Dahtah at the edge.

When they reach Dahtah, he stoops down and takes the gourds they have brought and

immediately begins stuffing Terreos wound with the jellies of leaves.

Dahtah sticks his fingers into the gushing hole to make him heal but Terreo strikes him

across the face. Dahtah topples over onto his side. Terreo is shouting at them now and turns and

tries to stand. But Dahtah, on his back, calls for some of his Followers to grab hold of Terreos

arms and restrain him so that he can go to work on the wound with the medicines. They then

fight with the still-brutal man while he leaks precious blood onto them.

Some of the women are now running also. The Mother directed them. They bring big

thatched leaves and make a bed for Terreo on the platform. When the men drag Terreo onto the

matting, he shouts so loud that the Gatherers who are close to the altar cower. The blood that is

pouring out of him now is so dark it is almost black. The Gatherers stare at the puddle he leaves

behind on the gray stone as though it will animate. Terreo shouts again. It is a scream they have

never heard; it is all fury, with a power that echoes through the village. At the platform edge, the

Gatherers all duck again; others run off toward their quarters in fear and confusion. They would

like to hide.


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But on the altar, Dahtah is mixing the ointments together and watching Terreo. He then

takes a thick glob and sticks it deep inside the wound, planting the healing potions from the

forest while the Followers stand around. Men are holding Terreos limbs and he briefly lifts a

man from the platform with a single arm, shouting in rage and agony. But others quickly jump

onto his arm, pinning it so he can no longer interfere with Dahtah. Terreo then relents and lies

still, looking at Theo who stands at the altars edge. She looks at him without any emotion.

Her women are around her, trying to comfort her and coax her back to the Mother, but

Theo does not want to move from the spot she is on. She does not care to be beside the Mother

now. But the Mothers preferred woman is in front of her, talking loudly. Theo is not listening.

She moves the woman to the side with her hand so she can continue watching the rostrum. She

wants to watch what is going on. Somewhere inside she feels happiness that this has happened.

When she steps forward for a better view, the women follow her and fan her from the

heat. One holds leaves above Theos head, blocking the sun while she watches Terreo suffer. His

body is level with her eyes, and he is focused on her. She stares at him until he looks away.

Beside Terreo, the boy with big teeth kneels on the altar, praying. She does not know his name,

but she remembers him with Pyramie earlier. He is stone-faced, and he remains there in prayer as

she watches him, wondering why it is that this Gatherer should be so bold as to climb onto the

altar and pray. But she does not say anything to him or tell him to get down from where he does

not belong. She no longer cares where he belongs. But off to her side she notices another

Gatherer boy who is looking at her. She has never seen him before, and she is angered that this

Gatherer boy would stare at her as he is. He looks something like Pyramie. And as she is about to

have one of her women strike him when Marnea grabs his shoulder. Stop looking at her,

Nahane.


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Chris Moore TOTEM

He does not, and she tears him away bowing and apologizing to Theo.

Terreo then makes a noise on the platform. Theo looks back at him forgetting about

Nahane and how he looked at her. She thinks Terreos noise sounds pitiful, and she watches him

for a while until he makes the pitiful sound again and then she cuts her eyes at him and turns to

start walking away. But as she does this, a hand grabs her shoulder and turns her.

The Leader is furious with her. He pulls her toward the stage and lifts her beside him. She

struggles only a little but stops when she sees the look on his face. He grits his teeth and, for a

moment, he holds her before him without saying anything. Then after some time, he breaks his

silence.

Kneel beside him and be seen to pray, he says. She does not want to pray, and does not

move at first, so he pulls her along to where the boy with big teeth is kneeling and forces her

down. Stay there, he says. Do not move!

She listens.

Then the boy beside her speaks, Nonna, he says, pointing to himself.

Shut up, she says, and does not break eye contact with Terreo. He has since turned his

head to look at her and is smiling with blood on his sharp teeth.

TOTEM First 5 Chapters

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