The sun rose at 6AM, glowing and slowly peeking over the forest trees. Once the light of the sun kissed the small windows of the hut, Emunah opened his eyes. The now young man stood up off his child-like bed for the last time. He had a big smile on his face because today was a big day for him. Today was a day for celebration. Today was the day the entire village had been waiting for, excitedly explaining to Munah how amazing the festivities would be. Today marks the day he officially was a part of the Cainite Tribe for 10 years. He had been well versed in hunting as well as their daily culture routines. He had participated in many rituals and ceremonies where they sacrificed chicken's blood to the golden bull. He was so used to it, it no longer bothered him and he mostly looked forward to the eating part afterwards anyways. His favorite rituals were still the singing and dancing just like when he was a child. Shifrah, and Doe still remained the two most important females in his life and they each were getting up in age. Emunah, being much stronger now, spent most of his time tending to them both as well as the many goat generations Doe had started since they arrived. Although he and Zaiad still had their differences, for the most part the entire village loved Emunah and truly saw him as one of their own. They took him in and it was time to make him an official hunter/farmer/leader of the tribe. The active leader was Tzaiad, but he too was getting up in age, and accepted that it was time to pass down the throne. Although he preferred it to be a child born into the village, he could not deny the boy's skills were pretty impeccable. He may have had a rough start with the worst aim any of the males had ever seen, but with a bit of training and roughing up, the young man was truly one of the best hunters the village has ever wielded. He also contributed with farming and gardening, goat milking and cooking. Zaiad could not take away the fact the boy was a shining star amongst the village.
Finally, after a long day of gathering, harvesting, preparing, and cooking, the ceremony was well decorated and ready to begin. Emunah wore his finest ensemble that he received from the herald. Now that he was taller and larger, they fit much nicer on him. He looked very wealthy in the clothes which made him stand out to all the women in the village.They all made sure to tell him how handsome he had grown to be, and some even made advances at the young man.
Everyone gathered at the center of the community and began to sing and dance around the fire. After the opening song, the people instructed Emunah to sit in the middle of the circle they made by holding hands. There was a special chair waiting for him there. He sat down, feeling like a kid being celebrated for a birthday, and smiled ear to ear as they all sang and danced in the hand held circle around him.
"I haven't heard this song before…maybe that's why I have to sit out, '' he thought to himself. His smile half dropped when he realized Doe and Shifrah were missing. "How could they not be here on my special day?" he wondered, feeling disappointed. "Where could they be?" As he wondered, the song ended and Tzaiad stepped in to the middle of the human circle, and began to make a speech;
"Dear people, lovely people listen to me! We are gathered to this ceremony on this fine summer sunset, to embrace our member Munah. Today marks the 10th year he has spent with us and he has shown such promise as a leader in that time." Zaiad put his hands in the air, reaching and looking to the skies, " PLEASE MIGHTY BAAL AND WIFE BALAAT! ACCEPT THIS OFFERING FROM US, THE SMALL UNWORTHY FOLLOWERS! ACCEPT EMUNAH INTO THE CAINITES FOR ALL HIS LIFE! GRANT THIS MAN A WIFE SO HE MAY PASS HIS BLOOD ALONG. GIVE HIM THE POWER TO REIGN OVER THIS VILLAGE AS LONG AS HE IS PHYSICALLY ABLE!" He put his arms back down at his sides and looked directly at Munah, who was anxiously waiting for what was to come next. He had never learned a ritual like this one. Zaiad continued to speak with is eyes locked on Munah;
"Young man, are you ready to finally become a Man? A strong, true man? Good. You have worked hard for your ranking amongst us, and surely we have worked hard taking you in."
Emunah suddenly felt a sense of doom creep into his stomach. He felt something was wrong.
"Now, we all love you dearly my boy, however you have learned our customs, yes? You know our rules as well as any of our hunters born on this land right? So you know that even though we show kindness, ALL energy must be repaid in some form. That's only fair right?" Zaiad waited for Munah's response. The boy nodded his head and his face expression motioned 'what are you getting at' towards the questioning man.
"Alright then," Zaiad continued, "So you have contributed for your stay here by helping out with the cooking and farming and such. But to truly be a part of the Cainites, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to be a man. All the boys born on this land have it in their blood to handle this ceremony. The question is, do you have what it takes to lead this village? To care for the sick and hungry? To provide the meat and bread? To sacrifice is to be a Man. Uncomfort is our nature and a part of our life. It is what fuels us, it is how we strive! Do you accept these things I have spoken to you about?"
Emunah hesitated a moment, realizing he still had not seen his Mother Shifrah and best friend Doe. He said yes to the man, feeling a bit sad his loved ones missed out on this moment.
"YES WHAT!?" shouted Zaiad at the boy.
"YES I AM READY FOR SACRIFICE AND UNCOMFORT, I AM READY TO LEAD MY PEOPLE, I AM READY TO BE A MAN!" Emmunah shouted back and jumped to his feet as if ready for battle. A big smile crept across Zaiad's face. The people began to sing and chant again as Zaiad was handed a bottle of alcohol. He poured some in his mouth and spat it into the firepit that lived in the middle of the human circle. The fire roared at the chemical the moment the alcohol made contact. Emunah jumped back, but smiled as he felt like it was done, he was now a man.
Zaiad spoke once more, "Emunah! You are now a man! But to be the leader of this group you have to first sacrifice. Once you say yes, there is no turning back and the crown of sticks and thorns is yours!" Emunah did not hesitate to say yes, feeling his manhood rush through him, he was not afraid of anything in that moment. What's the worst? A snake bite? A tribal symbol burned onto his body? Whatever the pain he was ready!
Zaiad clapped slowly and smiled "good, good, my man. Prepare yourself for a world of pain, for it is necessary to move forward in this life.'' With that, Zaiad turned around and pointed. The human circle broke, in the direction his finger was pointed at. Emunah's heart could have fell out of his butt when he saw it. Next to the golden bull, one on each side, there were two large wooden stakes. Doe was tied to one, Shirfah the other. Apparently due to him not being born there he had to contribute 2 sacrifices instead of 1. Before Emunah could make a move, The pile of dried grass at the bottom of each stake was set ablaze simultaneously by two village members. Emunah lunged forward to help but was quickly stopped by a wall of fire. Zaiad had sipped more alcohol and spat it onto the burning loved ones. Emunah shouted pain from his soul as he listened to them scream and screech at the pain. He thought he heard Shifrah speak to him in between her screams. It sounded like she said;
"Don't worry sweet boy!....i WANTED to do this....you have no son...i was the next best thing!...it was necessary...or you could not stay here any longer...." the screams stopped. All that could be heard was the crackle of the fires. Emunah turned around full of anger, to find all the village people were completely nude. Even the children. They were all laughing and doing unspeakable things to each other. Emunah was in complete shock. He shouted when startled by a random village woman and man completely nude trying to touch all over his body. He pushed them off and ran to the children's hut to grab his bags. He packed hurriedly and made sure to take his beloved storybook. He took off running as fast as he could into the forest. By now it was completed dark out. He clutched tightly to his chest the one thing from his childhood he had left, while he ran and felt the wind wipe his tears.
"Emunah! Hey! Wake up!" 17 year old Emunah was shaken awake by a familiar child's voice. He opened his eyes to see the child of a lower ranking hunter, Betyalad. Emunah sat up on the ground, face swollen from the many tears that had put him to sleep that night. The sun had come up and he was beginning to feel the summer heat make its presence known.
"What do you want?" he asked the child while staring at the ground, full of grief.
"I just want to know why you ran away after your big night! I snuck off to find you and make sure you were okay." Betyalad was about 12 years old, tall for his age, with pale skin and brown freckles dancing across his cheeks. He tucked his curly brown hair behind his ear so it wouldn't get into his eyes.He was very concerned about his childhood friend. He had seen Emunah as a big brother ever since he jumped out of the bushes when Betyalad was only 2 years old. Emunah continued to stare at the ground and did not speak, he drew little circles in the dirt with his fingers.
"You behave as if you didn't know how the night was supposed to end, friend?" Betyalad was smiling, oblivious.
"If i were to know that was to take place i would have taken them both and ran away BEFORE now!" Emunah shouted at the boy. Tears escaped his eyes as he asked, "why?? Why did you all do that to me? To THEM?" Emunah thought he knew what love was. He felt it when Shifrah took him in, cared for him like her own. He felt it when Doe stayed by his side and licked his tears since he found her. This, this was not love. Couldn't be.
Betyalad was confused, he stopped kneeling in front of Emunah and sat down next to him in the dirt. He spoke carefully so as to not get yelled at again or possibly attacked. "Munah, friend, brother… did nobody tell you about the ritual of initiation?" Emunah did not respond nor make eye contact.
Betyalad sighed, "well. I guess I would run away too if I did not understand what was coming. Well if it makes you feel any better, everyone has to do it. All the grown ups. Normally we only sacrifice a goat once every 5 years. But when you arrived, we couldn't do that because we had another person who was hungry we had to feed." the boy tried to explain. Emunah was not having it.
"If my friend was the price of my stay i would never have stayed here! Of course you hide these things from me! Only a fool would have stayed after knowing they would endure such pain in the guise of love!" Munah shouted in the boys face. Disgusted by him now, Munah elected to turn his back to the boy. Betyalad scrunched up his face, but continued to speak;
"Listen Munah, I know you are sad but Shifrah WANTED to do this. She had to do it willingly. We only make unwilling sacrifices using the first born…" Emunah turned around to face him again, "first born?? What are you talking about??" Betyalad put his hands up to signify he meant no harm.
"Im sorry friend…i thought you knew. Surely they taught you all our customs…Well i myself am a second born, thats why my name is Betyalad." he said with a proud smile. "It means second born, my dad made it up just for me!" he continued to beam proudly. "My dad told me i have a big brother, alot of us do! But they had to sacrifice them to Baal in order for Baal to bless the village with everything we need to thrive…its tradition."
Emunah sat back and thought to himself, "wait…does that mean Shifrah.." Betyalad interrupted his thoughts with truth; "Shifrah gave up her son to Baal, but then her husband died from a snake bite. So she was never able to have her second child even though she prayed and sacrificed to Baal and Baalat all the time" Emunah's puffy face was puzzled and shocked.
"Don't be sad! Baalat answered her prayers when you popped up! That's why she took you in, she knew you were a gift from the gods! We all did! She knew one day she would have to give her life for you, i'm not sure why she wouldn't tell you though…i'm sorry brother" Betyalad said with empathy. Emunah was in tears again. He had no one, everyone was taken away from him and he just could not understand why.
"SO…Let's go back to the village. It's time for you to reign as the leader. Zaiad is too old and he wont be alive much longer. Especially if he keeps hunting so vigorously" Betyalad let out a chuckle in hopes of cheering up his fellow brother in community. Emunah was deep in thought, "you…you go ahead. I need a few moments to gather myself"
Betyalad took off towards the village and Emunah was in the same spot not moving a muscle. He was contemplating what to do next. On one hand, he had no one nowhere to go. On the other hand he had found a community that took him in, although very crude in nature. Surely Munah did not want to be a leader of such a group. Lost in sorrow and trauma, He opened his storybook to the page that happened to be where his true mother last left off. He read:
' The humans spent all their time naming animals and plants just as the Being had instructed them to do. Meanwhile, in Heaven, there was a great plan brewing, a plan of destruction and chaos. Some of the creatures the Being created were not pleased that this simple ugly thing called human could take the attention and love of their father. Most of the creatures were fine with the new "sibling" they were tasked to help and watch over. Those cherubs, fiery ones, felt nothing but the burning of jealousy in their core. They themself had no idea what that feeling meant, but they did nothing to starve it. The Being had trust for this high rank creature, so It gave them all complete power to watch over the humans as their divine task. The cherubs were not happy about this but they followed orders as they were created to do. One Cherub in particular, The Prince (first born and direct leader of cherubs, last born of the high rank creatures), had a special emotion brewing for the humans. This feeling was soon named 'hatred'. The Prince could not fathom how such an insignificant creature could wield so much of his creator's attention and love. He felt as if the humans were truly weak and undeserving. He found the mere sight of the two humans repulsive and constantly thought of ways to demolish them without the creator knowing. One day the Being finally gave the Humans their own names, Adamah for the male and Hawwah for the female, this made the Prince very upset. He knew that the creator's love for the Humans would only grow now that It has taken the time to name them individually, just like those that dwell in heaven. The Prince hatched a plan to make a special visit to the humans that would surely make them just as repulsive to the creator, just as he saw them himself. The Prince watched the humans from the clouds, he could see they were still naming the animals and plants.
Meticulously planned, the Prince made a visit to the humans but not in his normal form as this would scare the humans away. The Prince used his powers to go to the humans in the form of an animal so they would be none the wiser of their cruel visitor. Sneakily and slimily the Prince, invisible to the human eye, made his way to earth in the special garden where the humans would reside. Adamah was not in the area as he had chosen to venture outside of the garden to get an idea of how many more plants and animals there were to name. Hawwah was foraging for food, taking a short break from her task at hand. She was weary and tired and had no idea how many living things she would be tasked to name. The Prince walked up to Hawwah in animal form, and began to speak to her. The Prince convinced the weary weak minded woman to actually eat from the magical tree, instead of spending energy she did not have foraging. The woman did protest at first deeming to the Prince she was specifically ordered not to eat from there. The Prince challenged her and gave her excuses as to why it would make more sense for her to just disobey the order of the Being. Weary, hungry, and drained of energy, the woman finally came to the conclusion that what the animal was communicating was right. The Prince had convinced the woman that he must be honest in his advice, because the Being created and trusted the animals just like her. Why would the animals lead her astray? She did not have a concept of what being led astray even was. She was still so new to the earth and life. She gave in, and took some fruit from the magic tree. It did not look very magical, actually it looked quite plain in nature. Just like any other fruit from a tree nearby. Before the woman took a bite, the Prince reminded her she should be considerate of her husband, and make sure he was fed as well. She agreed to this as Adamah had appeared to work just a touch harder than her due to his naturally more muscular build. She grabbed a second fruit and set off to find her husband so they could eat and rest.'
Emunah closed the book, having been tired of reading. He felt as if he could take something from what he read and apply it to his life somehow. "If the animals had never done her wrong, maybe I should trust my tribe. They took me in, fed me, taught me, and took care of me. Why would they lead me astray now just because I don't understand their culture as much as I thought I did." Emunah stood up, and headed back towards the village with his beloved storybook in hand.