Water slapped against the rocks as Thalo gingerly picked his way down the jetty toward the strange object that looked as if a leaf had been folded in half along its spine and the ends somehow fused together to make what looked like a long, narrow trough. How it floated, he had no idea, but it bobbed merrily on the water.
He knew there was no kapu, religious restriction, forbidding him step into the Endless Lake, but no one in his village had ever done it or knew of anyone who ever had. And what he was going to travel in was so unusual that there was no word for it in their language. It wasn't there the day before, and no one had seen anyone bringing it to the rocks, so where had it come from and who left it for him? Was it for him? Theft wasn't tolerated among his people, and he was no thief.
It was for him, though how he knew that, he couldn't say. Perhaps he knew that because of the power of the blessings the he'd been given. That had to be it. There was no other explanation for the strange insight he'd suddenly gained.
Before he'd left the village the previous night, the village be'shar had given him a series of special blessings meant to aid and protect him, and the elders had each given him the pebble-sized, sacred stone they normally kept in their family's shrine to bring luck and protection to their home and family. His own elder mother had made a special pouch with a sturdy cord for the small stones from her own thick, silver hair since their sacred stone, like their shrine and home, was no more, but she wanted to give him something to take with him. And soul gems weren't to be carried in just anything...
He hoped he was making the right choice. What if he wasn't? What if he was defying the gods' collective will? Of more pressing importance, what would happen to Elder Mother and Windy Afternoon if the Endless Lake swallowed him or he simply never returned?
Elder Mother was a renowned weaver and made wonderful things on her loom. She could easily provide for herself and his young sister during his absence, but what if he something happened to Elder Mother and she could no longer work? She would be cared for by the village, but what of Windy Afternoon? She would become a Person soon, be named, and become a member of the village, but she was still too young to young to learn a trade. What would happen to her if he failed?
What if the Endless Lake rose up once again and swallowed his village while he was away, but this time, left nothing but broken houses, rotting fish, and strange, floppy vines that smelled of salt?
When Mother had left to help find those the Great Wave had taken to the Endless Lake, she had been swallowed by the foul, salty water just as Father had when the lake had become offended and risen up against his village in a mighty wave that had crashed into the village and taken nearly half the dynion and many wraig as well as several homes.
No one knew how or why the Endless Lake, a body of salty water that stretched as far as anyone could see in both directions on the land and all the way to the edge of the world where the sun fell at the end of the day, had become offended or how they might prevent it from happening again in the future. In the days following the Great Wave, the Council of Elders and the village be'shar had spoken at length on the matter, discussed it until both moons had gone from being hidden to being fully revealed and then hiding again twice before agreeing that the great body of foul water had simply acted out of spite against the Divinity's will, and should be chastened and cautioned against such behavior lest it be condemned for all time.
They had discussed the matter of who should seek guidance from the Great Temple on how to shame the massive body of water, and after three days, they had somehow all known to choose Thalo though no one knew why. They just knew he had to be the one chosen. It was the voice of the gods speaking in their hearts, and they knew they had to obey even though Thalo was barely an adult.
Thalo stopped at the end of the jetty and looked back at the shore. It was early, and no one was awake yet. That was good. Windy Afternoon would be frantic that he was gone, and her dreams of the Endless Lake entering the village and gathering him into its foaming, roaring hands to swallow him the way it had Father would return. If she saw him, she'd never let him leave the village, but he couldn't take her with him. It was best she didn't see him leave or learn of his departure until after he?d left.
Windy Afternoon.
What of her? If he never returned, she would never be able to marry because she had no male relatives to speak for her and question any dhin who presented himself as suitor. Would Be'Shar make an exception? There were many who had no brothers, sisters, or parents to speak for them and question the merits and worthiness of their loved one's prospective mates. It would probably be determined that it was in the best interests of the village that the be'shar speak for those with no family or for him to assign people to speak on their behalf if he couldn't do so himself.
If, on the other hand, he stayed, he could find a trade, present himself to Mhira at the Festival of Rain, and make a home for himself. Elder Mother would be the family matriarch, and she would guide his family with wisdom and faith. His sister would have someone to protect and speak for her, she?d protect and speak for him, and life would go on as it had since the day his people were led to this place. But he couldn't stay.
The Endless Lake had a lot to account for, and if he stayed, he would never reach the Great Temple to learn how to speak to the massive body of water and place great shame upon it for what it had done to his people.
He looked at the strange, folded-leaf thing in the water as the sun lit the sky and turned the Endless Lake every possible shade of gold, red, and blue. Truly, the Great Power had blessed the world with awesome beauty.
Still, it didn't answer his question.
There was no question.
The temple was on the other side of the Endless Lake, and it wouldn't approach him, so he had to go to it. He didn't know how he knew that, he just knew, and he knew that once he was there, he would learn the words to chasten the Endless Lake for its cruelty and spite.
He squatted on the rock, raised his head in reverence, and held his hands above his head. To whom should he pray? Should he look to the village gods who had done nothing to protect or provide for his people, or the strange, new One God that the be'shar had told him of and who had guided the world since the first sunrise?
He couldn't say how he knew to whom he should pray, he just knew. The One God would hear him and speak to him because the village tikis were deaf, blind, and mute.
"This one asks guidance, Great Power Beyond. He knows he will be safe in the Mighty Hands, yes. And he knows he will not be led astray, no." He bit his lower lip with ink-black teeth and opened his watermelon-pink eyes, ignoring the glint of sunlight on his chrome-silver skin. He asked the most important question he had. "This one asks if he will reach the Temple alive."
A pair of strange, multi-sided pebbles marked with numbers, one blue and one orange, appeared in his right hand.
From everywhere around him, yet nowhere at all, a calm, resonant voice spoke. "Roll percentiles. Blue high."
He shook the pebbles and cast them onto the flat rock.