42 The Story of Osaze (2)

People finished eating and the night quieted down. Silence came. The only sounds were the soft cry of a baby that was soon shushed back to sleep and the crackling of embers hitting fire food. The man who had played the drum the other night, brought it out again, but this time when he played, the beat was slow and lingering. The vibrations of the low drum beat hung over the air.

Then joining the drum came a clear, rich voice. "The world began with a single light. A light that filled the void. Out of the light came beings of immense power. Unimaginable power. The begins walked out of the light and stepped onto the barren soil of the Earth. From their hands, arms, eyes, mouth, and teeth came water, valleys, mountains, oceans, and rivers. Only one place was left untouched. The originals beings spread their homes far and wide, making their new home into their preferred image.

"But one stayed back. The weeping god stayed in the barren land, to guard the gate from which they came. On the longest day of the year, when the sun is the brightest, the gate will be set alight. The gate will be opened and the beings who came from it can return. The gate lays far into the west. Past the rainbow sand river and on through the stone forest, at the edge of the divide, the gate stands. One stone that rises thirteen feet high and turns blue when touched by light. Every year, before the longest day arrives, each of the nomadic tribes roaming the land will send one warrior to the gate. On the longest day, the warrior, after facing many trials, will walk through the gate and into the light. Once stepped through the warrior will never return to the tribe, he has been blessed by the weeping god and becomes one of the guards of the desert. He staying in the lands the beings have walked from and helps to guard it for their return."

Old Deva paused in her story. The night and surroundings had vanished and all there was, was her voice and her words. Old Deva continued, "The Aten tribe had sent one such warrior to the Gate of the Sun, his name was Osaze. Osaze, second son to his father, brother of Odion. Odion would become the strongest warrior and replace his father as chief. But Osaze would be blessed with a different fate. The Aten tribe at the time met with a horrible disaster. Rains came roaring through the barren land, new rivers were formed within seconds. Livestock and people drowned and washed away. Entire tribes would go out of existence overnight. The Aten tribe had lost most of its livestock and lives of its people. To survive they needed the blessing of the gods. When the time came to send someone to the Gate of the Sun. Osaze volunteered to his brother's anger. The journey to the The Gate of the Sun was dangerous enough, and the tribe needed every hand to keep it going. But Osaze looked at his brother and told him, "After you I am the best. We share an image. You must stay and watch the tribe, but I can go and save it. I will show the weeping god my sincerity and bring blessings to you and out people." So, the younger twin, Osaze left the tribe despite the orders of his chief. Swift of foot, Osaze flew over the land and came to the Rainbow Sand River. The sand was a mixture of colors, purple, green, yellow, red, black. It flows like water and will sink anything that touches it. Osaze had to pass it in order to get to the Gate of the Sun, but he could not go around it. The only way was crossing. Days passed and Osaze stayed at the banks of the river of sand. Not daring to even attempt crossing. It was too wide to jump and wood would only sink. Osaze watched the river and saw a bird flying over it. Watching the bird fly, Osaze thought that if he had wings, he could cross too. In the desert lived one terrible monster, a monster with black wings that spanned the length of two horses. Its body was that of a large cat, with dagger like claws, and its face was that of a bird but had the eyes of human. It would eat the brains of its prey and from it steal their knowledge. The monster was deadly and smart. Osaze found the lair of the monster and had decided to kill it. He would cut off its wings and use them to fly across the river of sand. When the monster slept, Osaze silently approached it with his poison dipped dagger. The beast moved, and Osaze went still. When the beast didn't move, he continued moving forward. Osaze was next to the beast and raised his arm to plunge his dagger in, but before it could land the beast struck it with one of its paws, pining and caging Osaze to the cave wall.

"Tell me why I shouldn't eat you now?" the monster asked. Osaze panted as he met the all too human gaze of the monster.

"Because you need me alive," Osaze replied.

"Why is that?"

"The dagger that I pierced you with is poisoned. You will surely die if you don't know the cure."

"Ha ha ha!" the monster laughed maliciously. "Foolish human, do you not know what I am? Any knowledge you hold can be easily attained with only a single bite."

"You can eat me and learn the cure, but then you will only know the cure. You need me alive to be cured," Osaze slyly said.

"And why do you say so human? If the cure exists in this world, I can find it. Nothing is out of my reach."

"You may be able to gain the knowledge but you won't have the skills to make it, and by the time you are skilled enough you will already be dead. It is my personal poison. You need my skills and knowledge in order to cure it."

"Humans are known liars and cheats. Why should I believe you?" the monster dubiously asked the puny human.

"Can you afford not to?" The monster pondered over Osaze's words and ultimately struck a deal with him. He would help Osaze cross the Rainbow Sand River and Osaze would give him a cure.

Osaze had solved his problem and could now cross the treacherous sand, with the cure as his reassurance, but he knew as soon as he gave the cure away. His life would be forfeit. After crossing, Osaze gave a list of ingredients that he would need to make the cure and sent the monster off to get them. He continued on his journey and hoped that the monster would take a long time in finding them. The next day the monster returned. The monster had thousands of years' worth of knowledge from a wide variety of creatures, it was easy for it to gather the needed ingredients. Osaze then told the monster that it would take a week for him to create, but that he needed to get to the Gate of the Sun before then. The monster then agreed to fly Osaze the rest of the way there and on its back Osaze would make the potion. Osaze spent his time brewing a potion, but he had to think of a way to trick the monster. They reached the Gate of the Sun and Osaze couldn't hold off the monster anymore. You can only walk through the gate when the time is right, any earlier or later and you will fall to your death. The monster knew that Osaze was stalling for time, and was happy to play along. The monster enjoyed playing with its food.

"The sun was approaching its zenith and the potion was finished. Osaze approached the monster to apply the medicine, but the monster stopped him. "Wait," the monster said. "How do I know that the cure will work?" Osaze then took his dagger and cut a line on his palm and then poured one drop of the potion onto it. Before the monster's eyes the wound was healed. Satisfied, the monster snatched the potion and poured the rest of it onto its wound. "You did well human. Our deal is now complete." The monster's wound healed and with an evil smile the monster dove to eat Osaze. Osaze was ready for the attack and dove to the side. As they fought the sun reached its highest point and the gateway opened. The gate would only stay for a few seconds. The monster stood in front of it and laughed in Osaze face. Osaze's defeat was now eminent, but then the monster stopped, his smile fading. His wound began to corrode from the inside. "Human what have you done?" the monster wailed from the pain. The monster fell away and it's body was crumbling. Osaze looked down at his own hand and it was also beginning to corrode, but at a much slower pace.

"Trickster where is the cure?" demanded the monster.

"There is no cure you can only wait for death," Osaze said. Osaze then ran around the monster and dove through the door. The weeping god had observed all of this and admired Osaze courage and self-sacrifice. The weeping god used one of his tears to heal Osaze's hand and blessed the Aten tribe with protection for the next hundred years. Although one hundred years have passed that protection allowed the Aten tribe to grow and thrive and be what it is today," Old Deva finished.

"What happened after that?" came the voice of a young child.

"Osaze continues to guard the gate. Maybe, someday our tribe will have another guardian."

A-Narah had been captured by the story, and it felt like waking from a dream once it was over. She knew it was only a story though. The story Old Deva told was wrong. If there was such a gate then Middle Kingdom would have known about it, and the gods didn't come from the desert. They came down from the tall mountain to the north of Middle Kingdom, known as God's Mountain. It was an entertaining story though. A-Narah was also surprised that the story didn't mention the King Scorpion at all. Maybe they didn't know about him and were ignorant like most of the people in Middle Kingdom were.