(86) Lizards and desert creatures
I wasn't that fond of lizards. I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them. It was only now that I realised just how many there were out here. Far more than I knew. Along with the lizards came the rodents and various other creatures of the wilderness. Although I didn't know how much they knew or how much they could understand, I gave them all the same warning to evacuate the area and flee to safety.
Many of the creatures froze and then it was interesting. Most of them started marching away. As if they were really leaving and evacuating.
*"So this is the reason you have come to this place?"* the big lizard asked me with curiosity. *"To warn all humans and creatures of the coming death?"*
*"Yes,"* I said, finishing the small melon. It was yellow, slightly sweet with a bitter aftertaste like the one that the Desert Father had shown me last time.
*"Then we will accompany you and help you spread the word throughout the region,"* the big lizard said, sending his gaze across all the gathered creatures, furry, feathered and scaled. *"There is a place filled with humans nearby. We shall go there first."*
The big lizard picked me up and placed me on his back, staying still until I had found a way to sit and ride on his uncomfortable ridged back. He moved slowly while I got used to riding him and sped up when he felt I was balancing well enough.
At the edge of this little tribe, I did not recognise the location. I stood at the village boundary and shouted my greetings.
An old woman hobbled out and gave me a strange look. She did not greet me as I had expected. She stared beyond me at the crowd of creatures behind me.
"Please call everyone in the tribe over," I said in the common tribal language. "I have an important message from the Creator for all the tribes."
The old woman tilted her head.
"All the men have gone to the big meeting of all tribes at the Circle sacred grounds," she told me. "Why are so many creatures following you, Messenger?"
"I don't exactly know," I rubbed my nose. "I also gave the same message and some decided to follow me instead."
"You should bring your message to the Circle grounds. There is no use telling us here," the old woman shrugged at me.
"There is," I insisted, speaking formally. "I am the apprentice of one of the noble judges. I have been sent to spread the word. I may not be able to make it to all the villages because my legs are broken and I am unable to move freely, and so I came to the tribe I was closest to in order to seek assistance."
"Speak on," the old woman said with interest.
"The Creator has declared that judgement will fall upon all the Land," I said. "The wickedness and wrongs of all our tribes has met the level requiring judgement. The cries of innocent blood cry out for justice to the Creator day and night," I repeated what I had heard the Creator saying so that I knew what to say. "The Land is unable to bear the weight of the accumulated evil and the tribes cannot be spared unless they repent and change their ways. Even so, the tribes can no longer remain in the Land. There is going to be a great war causing devastation from our desert wilderness to the Tangled Mountains. The city and Blue Gulf will be utterly destroyed. I have been sent to warn the tribes of the coming death and destruction. Those who are innocent and willing to listen must leave the Land immediately."
"If we, the tribes, have done wrong and cannot escape, then we will die," the old woman looked at me as if I was stupid. "If it is the will of the Creator, then we will await His punishment. We tribes belong to the Land. If the Land rejects us, then we will accept it and die in the Land. You have the features of a child of the tribes in the face, but your hair… tsk. You did not grow up in the tribes, did you? Take the tribesman out of the Land and he will die. Have you not heard this saying before?"
"I have," I replied, feeling a little desperate. "I petitioned the Creator not to destroy all of the tribes' people. He agreed to allow those who believe my words to escape. The children and those who have not partaken in the evil things are innocent. They need not die with the rest of us."
"And you? You will not escape punishment either?" the old woman raised her eyebrows.
"It depends upon my husband's decision," I replied. "I will stay if he stays and go if he goes. In truth, I was cast out from among the tribes. My name was taken from me and removed from my family's stones."
"And you survived?" the old woman was even more shocked. "You are the first person I have ever heard to have survived such punishment. And after having your name taken and removed from your family stones you joined the tribe of the noble judges. You are one blessed girl. If you no longer belong to the tribes of the people, as a noble judge, you only follow the Creator's will. If the Creator has commanded you to go, then go and do not look back. The Creator is right. Our tribes are evil and only do more evil." The old woman stood up straighter and she suddenly looked a lot younger. She stretched her arms and legs out with purpose. "Very well," she said in a firm voice. "I will do as you request. All the women of the tribes shall receive the warning by the end of the day, and each shall make her decision for her children. Where should the children be sent?"
"It is best to send them to the next city as soon as possible," I replied. "We do not know when the city or area will be attacked but we are expecting it any moment now. All I know is that the entire Land of the tribes from desert to mountains will be no more."
"If the women want to send their children away, they must do it before the men return from the big meeting in the Circle. I heard they are speaking with an overseas alien today. You must go. Delay the men as long as possible to give the women and children who wish to depart a chance to leave. With the overseas alien there, the men may not heed your warning. As you are an outcast, they may even attack you. Do you realise this?"
"Yes," I nodded. "The Creator informed me of this as well. Even if my life is given to allow at least a few innocent people from our tribes to escape the coming death, then it has not been in vain. I was born of the tribes and although I am no longer of the tribes, I am still of the Land. I must at least deliver the warning to those who were once my people."
The old woman made a sign of respect and bowed.
"I have received your message, Messenger. Wait here. I will give you water and bread for the journey."
The old woman half ran into her house and returned carrying half a loaf of bread and a bottle of water. Seeing her coming, the lizards blocked her.
"I thank you for your heart," I bowed to the old woman from where I sat on the big lizard, "but I am unable to receive your kindness. As you can see, my friends will not allow it after another of my so-called human friends tried to poison me. I bid you the Creator's blessings."
"And to you," the old woman said in a daze when all the lizards suddenly turned around and raced off before I could finish talking.
"Where are we going?" I asked the big lizard but it did not answer me. Its mind was glazed and bent on following a call from a distance.
The call made me shiver. It felt like an evil whisper. Cold, hard and sinister.
I struck at it and silenced the call, causing the creatures around me to slow to a stop and shake their heads in confusion. They all turned to look at the big lizard and myself.
The big lizard rubbed its head on the ground as if trying to wipe something off its head. Many of the creatures were doing the same.
*"Thank you,"* I heard and felt the clamour of many creatures' voices calling out to me.
*"We may be going to our death,"* I told them all. *"Are you willing?"*
*"We are willing,"* the creatures and the big lizard replied, continuing to run forwards. *"We go with the Messenger."*
We seemed to be running toward the big Circle sacred meeting ground that all the tribes used for their annual meetings. It wasn't time for the annual meeting and yet as we drew close, I knew that the elders from all the tribes were indeed all there. With our arrival, came a huge tide of all the local desert creatures. Their eyes were glazed and their minds only fixed on that evil calling voice.
My group of creatures were not easily ensnared by the voice the second time, having seemed to have gained immunity from it.
Once more, I struck at the evil voice. This time I heard a shriek of pain from inside the Circle meeting grounds.
"An evil creature prevents me from completing the call," the high pitched voice of the highest witchdoctor of all the tribes screeched with anger. "Find her for me! A young female!"