The Cave (1)

The next morning, the tribe got all hustling and bustling as soon as the light from their two suns graced the planet. Everyone from the tribe had gathered in front of the chieftain's house for a meeting. It would seem that Zok and Ahuli weren't the only ones who were the witness of the bright light.

Zok finally gave up on sleeping due to all the yelling and gasping going outside. And decided to go out for a walk. He made his way out of the room, with Kaira walking closely behind him. She was a wolf overshadowing her partner. Even though she was on all fours, she was still taller than Zok. If anyone saw the two of them walk together, people would think Zok was being preyed on by the wolf.

"Zok! By the great Okun! It's so good to see you walking on your own." Mirelia exclaimed before rushing in to hug her youngest son. However, she backed down at the last moment Kaira began growling at her.

"Kaira, shush!" Zok waved his hand and the wolf quietened down, with a bit of resistance. Kaira might have been his partner but their bond still wasn't all that strong, "She's my mother. Try not to scare her. If you want to scare someone go and bite my father."

"Zok! That's no way to talk about your father. You might not be aware of it but he saved you in that incident that happened in the enclosure." Mirelia immediately flipped out when she heard Zok saying such a thing about her husband.

"Yeah, nice joke mother." Zok truly thought it was truly a joke, "That's what he told you? He saved me?"

"Well... yeah?" Mirelia mumbled.

She was confused. Everyone who was in the encloser when Zok was attacked, told her the same story of how Skah fought off the tulak to save his youngest son. She thought maybe the father and son were finally bonding with each other. But now, after seeing Zok's reaction she wasn't so sure about it.

"Okay, then how did he explained that I have a partner now?" Zok wasn't even surprised at his father's behaviour anymore, "Kaira was the one who saved me. I don't even know why she did, but that father of mine didn't even say a word while I lost my consciousness not knowing if I'll ever wake up again."

"Zok... you had a head injury. Maybe that's why you are so confused."

"What did master Suhi told you about the incident? Forget about master, what did Ahuli say?"

"They didn't tell me anything. They were silent the whole time while everyone was praising your father. But why would everyone lie about such a thing?"

"Leave it, ma. It doesn't matter what I say. Everyone is going to take father's side either way. After all, I'm just his deadbeat son." Zok shook his head before leaving, "As for your question, even I don't know why would he even do something like that? He's already the hero of Wilderness for Okun's sake."

"Zok! Where are you going? You should rest first-" Mirelia tried to pull him back but Zok just brushed her hand off of his shoulder.

"I'm just going to take Kaira out for a walk," Zok mumbled before pushing the curtain aside only to see everyone was looking at him, "Um... good morning?"

Zok didn't bother to wait for their replies. He turned sideways and was about to walk out when he heard his father call out to him from the centre of the crowd.

"There's my brave son! The tamer of the great white direwolf!" Skah roared at the top of his lungs as everyone began clapping till their hands turned bright red.

Zok didn't know what to do next. So he just stood there alongside Kaira who for some reason couldn't stop growling at his father. For the first time in his life, the tribesmen were looking at him with something other than plain disgust or hatred. It almost felt like they were genuinely happy to see him for some reason.

The next moment, they cleared a path for Zok to join his father. Ahuli was standing right behind Skah as usual. While five others were accompanying them. Zok looked at the five people and easily recognised all of them. They were the shamans also know as the Messengers of Okun.

Their attire was completely different from what the tribesmen wore as, unlike the tribesmen, they were under a vow to never touch any of the creatures Okun had created. Thus while the tribesmen wore clothes made of beast hide, the shamans only wore attires made of different types of leaves. However, some of them preferred to spend their lives naked as they saw trees as creatures Okun had created.

One could easily tell if someone was a shaman or not, just by looking at their skin. Unlike the tribesmen, the shaman had an oddly bluish skin tone right from the birth itself. It was often said that Okun himself marked the shamans right before their birth to be his servants. And that it was a reward they got for their achievements in past lives.

Just like everyone else, Zok knew one thing about the shamans clearly. Someone could disrespect whoever they wanted to, but not the shamans. Even in his mother's stories, she often emphasised it as the shamans were not only Okun's servants, but they also had some of his powers as well. It was rare for Zok to show respect to anyone, but this time he immediately bowed his head in front of the shamans.

"Now that your son is here, O Great chieftain, let us talk about the mystical cave." One of the hooded shamans mumbled before revealing her oddly attractive blue face to the tribesmen, "And how your son will help us all."