Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (5 page)

And then, it was there
—a
massive
, winged
creature
hovering in the air
, facing away from
her.  She
yir
was instantly paralyzed with fear and the only thing she could hear
above the powerful beat of its
white
wings
was the
pounding
of her own heart.

The creature pivoted slowly toward her as it descended to the earth.  When its human-shaped body touched the ground, the feathered wings, dappled with bands of gold and reddish-brown, came to rest.  If it hadn’t noticed her presence before, it did now with
large, deep-set, animal eyes, blue in color. 
The
prominent eyebrows gave it a look of intensity, as if it was able to
see into her very soul.
 
Its
face and
head
were
covered in white, shaggy hair, swept back from its large, sharp nose as if blown by the wind.
  But the rest of the creature’s tan skin was hairless.

Sheyir
willed her body to move, but it was frozen in place, melded with the rock beneath her.

The creature, whose body seemed to be made entirely of muscle,
took a step forward.

Sheyir
i
nstantly grew cold while her face flushed with heat.
  Even though it stood a stone’s throw away, it seemed as though the creature’s vast wings could reach out and encircle her.

Instead, the creature retracted them and tucked them behind its shoulders.

Suddenly,
Sheyir
felt control of her body return.  Without pausing even a moment to make sense of the situation, she fled in terror.  As her bare feet dug into the wet sand of the shoreline, she could almost feel its breath on her skin.  In her mind, she could
still
see those
giant
wings and knew that it would take but two thrusts for the creature to catch her.  But she ran anyway, blind with panic.

The thick foliage of the trees slapped her face and body as she finally reached the forest, feeling instantly safer among the confined space that would inhibit flying creatures from attacking.  She kept running until she couldn’t breathe and her legs wouldn’t move any longer.  She stumbled and fell into the mud.  Crawling now on her hands and knees, she wondered why she hadn’t
already
been taken from the ground and carried off into the sky.  Risking a look behind, she was surprised to see nothing.

The creature was not there.

She looked up quickly, expecting to see it descending upon her, but neither was it in the sky above.  In fact, there was no sign of it; only the broken reeds and bent blades of grass disturbed by her passage.  Her lungs burned and her heart raced, obstructing her ears from listening for signs of pursuit.

Where is it?

She
yir
stood motionless
, her chest heaving,
for what seemed like an eternity.  Slowly, her heart grew quieter and she thought she could hear something.  More seconds passed and the sound of singing drifted to her.  It was the most clear, brilliant tone she’d ever heard.  Increasing in volume, it pierced the air and rumbled the ground beneath her feet, all at once.  What was more startling was the melody
—a
song she used to sing as a child.

How could it know?  What does it want?

Slowly, the vines parted on the other side of the clearing.

Sheyir
remained still, too exhausted to run any longer.

From between the broad leaves, a man stepped through into the light.  Even at this distance, she could see that he was several heads taller than she.  Only a
tattered white loincloth
covered his
tan
skin.  His white, shaggy hair and beard were unmistakable.  Though smaller and without wings, she knew it was still the same creature.

“Please don’t go,
Sheyir
,” he said in her language.  “I’ve come a long way to see you.”

She backed away carefully, feeling
more cautious than afraid now.

How does it know my name?

The man,
the creature
, extended its hand toward her in a pleading gesture.

Sheyir stepped
slowly
backward into a tangle of thick vines until broad leaves blocked her vision of the strange man.  Immediately, she felt shielded from the power of his gaze.  Her
body was her own once more.  Turning, she ran toward her village as quickly as her legs would carry her.

The
midmorning sun was bright, making the dew on the grass sparkle. 
The elders and most of the inhabitants of
Sedekiyr
were gathered in the center of the village, watching
Enoch
and his family from a distance.

Zacol
slid a leaf-wrapped bundle of
nuts and dried berries
into an
already full
animal skin bag
. 
“There,” she said as she
lifted the bag and hung it across Enoch’s shoulders.  “That should keep you for a few days.  Then you’ll have to gather what you can along the way.”

“Thank you,” Enoch replied, trying to make eye contact with his wife.  She was doing her best to ignore the implications of this journey.  But he didn’t want her to keep silent.  He wanted her to voice her frustrations so they wouldn’t gnaw at her while he was gone.

“They look more curious than
anything
,” he offered, looking over her shoulder at the rest of their tribe.

Zacol looked up suddenly with her head tilted slightly.  “Of course
they are.  What did you expect?”

Enoch squinted. 
At least she was talking now. 
“…
nothing, I guess.  But I hoped that someone would show some
concern
.  They’re just standing there.”

“Maybe they want to give you some time alone with your family.”

Enoch
shrugged his shoulders.

“We’re making progress,” Zacol assured him.

Enoch looked down and rubbed the scars on his wrists, permanent reminders of what he’d endured over the years; how far he’d come. 
“And now I’m leaving
.
”

Zacol’s head dropped.  Her voice lowered to a whisper.  “When you come back, we’ll just have to start over.”

Enoch quickly placed his hands on Zacol’s shoulders.  “I will come back
.  A
nd we will start over.
”

Zacol looked up again and her red-rimmed eyes were starting to well up.  All she could do was nod her head.

Enoch shifted the w
eight of his bag and looked over to his son,
Methus
helak
, who was hunched over in the grass nearby.  The boy was always fascinated by the creatures crawling through the soil.
4

“
You still haven’t told me where you’re going.”

Enoch grinned
and looked back to his wife
. 
“You still haven’t asked
.
”

Now it was
Zacol
who sm
iled
, and tilted her head.  “Where are you going?”

“I though
t
you’d never ask,” he continued,
enjoying the brief moment of humor amid the heavy circumstances.

Zacol waited with raised eyebrows.

“
In my dream
, I was above the land, like a bird
of the sky
.  In the distance,
I saw a
tall
mountain
.  And I could see the land between here and there, and where the water was situated. 
The
mountain
was
the one I’ve heard described by people who’ve passed through the land of
Nowd
.”
2

“
Nowd
?  Why
would He send you to those
murderers?” she asked, looking more worried tha
n
before.

“Their father was a murderer,” he corrected.  “That doesn’t mean all of them are.”

Zacol’s face softened.  It was obvious that she didn’t want to spend their last minu
tes together in confrontation.

“And besides,” Enoch continued.  “My message is not for them.”

Zacol’s eyes narrowed. 
“
Who is it for, then?”

Enoch looked up to the sky.  The mist was keeping low to the plains this day, and the deep blue overhead was unusually clear.
5
 
“
I saw the
stars fall from the sky.  I saw the C
hildren of
H
eaven abandon their home
and come
to ours
. 
And
I felt His heart breaking
—
”
he replied, trailing off as he remembered the
waters of the abyss rushing across the land.

Zacol’s eyebrows rose quickly.  “Has this already happened?”

Enoch was silent for a moment.  “
S
ome of it has happened and some is yet to come.
”

Zacol
turned
away and shook her head. 
“And what
are you supposed to do about it?  Tell the
C
hildren of
H
eaven to go back?  Warn the
Haragam
?
  Can any of it be changed
anyway
?”

Enoch
cringed at his wife’s use of the derogatory term for the
Kahyin
tribe. 
Even though their patriarch had murdered his brother, Enoch refused to believe that any person or tribe was above another.  The
Ka
h
yin
were simply lost,
prevented
from know
ing
the
Holy
O
ne
by the
guilt
of their father.  And as much as his own tribe would hate to admit it, every
human was descended from the same father and mother.

“I
will tell the Children of Heaven what the
Holy One
has shown me.  I don’t know if I can prevent anything. 
He asks only for my obedience in following His voice.
”

Zacol’s eyebrows smoothed until she wore a blank expression.

It was difficult for Enoch to make others understand what he had been learning his whole life, and what he was only now starting to comprehend. 
It had always been this way.  Ever since he was a child, people treated him differently because he could hear the voice of
the Holy One
.  Many
thought he was crazy.  Others said he was a liar.  Some even wanted so much to deny the presence of the Holy One, that they resorted to violence to keep Enoch from speaking the truth.  Zacol was the only one who listened; the only one who
truly
believed.

“How long will you be gone?” she asked softly.

Her
beauty was radiant this morning.  Her black, straight hair
moved
slightly in the breeze.  Her dark brown eyes, normally intense, were softene
d by her emotional brokenness.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. 
With resignation, he added,
“
…a
s long as it takes
.”

“
Ahva, ahva,”
came a small voice at his leg.

Enoch looked down to his son
who was holding something up for his father to see.

“What is it?” Enoch asked, bending down.

“I found a rock,” the boy answered.

“
Methu
,” Enoch started, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder.  “You’re going to be a strong man someday.  But the most important thing is, if
the Holy One
speaks to you, you listen to
H
im.  Do you understand?”

“Uh huh.  See, it’s from
the moving waters
, but I found it in the grass.”

Enoch smiled and stood up.

Zacol
’s
eyes were filled with tears again. 
“We’ll miss you.  Please come back as soon as you can.”