The Island
Part Two
by o_girl © 2024
Chapter Thirteen - 3.000 years BC - The Sacrifice
by o_girl © 2024
The morning mist dissolved as the sun rose over the horizon.
It was going to be another very hot day. One of many this long summer.
Out of the haze a slim wooden ship cut through the waves towards the island.
On each side five men dressed in brown, woven cloth and fur used short paddles to push the ship. The mainland quickly became a distant silhouette in the lingering haze.
The flat planks that made up the sides of the ship squeaked in the lashings made of strong plant fibres holding them together.
At each end the top and bottom planks were extended and swung in a beautiful upward curve.
A man stood by the steering oar and looked at the approaching island.
His "Hep!", "Hep!", "Hep!", "Hep!" kept the rowers staying in sync.
Their coordination was perfect.
In the middle sat a young woman, swept in a large, brown-black bearskin.
She was absolutely still, and had her eyes locked on the approaching island.
This was the day, she had been waiting for, and had prepared for all her life.
The day she was going to save her people, and bring prosperity, rain, crops, and prey back again.
She had delicate features, and soft hands that had never done a day's work.
At birth she had been declared chosen, and had grown up isolated and excluded from the day to day business of her village.
The last couple of days she had gone through a cleansing ritual: Been washed with scented water, had her hair done into a fat braid down her back, been rubbed with oil and given massages two times a day.
She had had songs and dances done in her honour, and Eyolf, the shaman had given her one final instruction about her duties.
They now approached the holy island of the Gods, where she was to save her people.
The ship hit a sandy beach below a cave. Some of the men jumped into the low water and pulled the ship safely up on the shore.
They lifted and supported her as she climbed out of the ship. Then she walked a few paces away and got down in a kneeling position.
Now the focus of her gaze had changed and even though she was now facing the distant shore her eyes were empty. She was lost in herself.
Some started unloading the cargo, some began cutting down small trees on each side of the cave and making a pile of firewood in front of it.
They worked fast and their sharp iron axes cut into the wood with ease.
Eyolf carefully took his bundles from the ship and carried them inside.
In the cave the men made a wooden scaffold by tying long branches across from one side of the walls of the cave to the other and Eyolf unpacked the holy cauldron.
It was pure silver and shone in the sunlight. The panels on the sides showed the Goddess in all her glory and scenes depicted how offerings were made to her.
Eyolf mumbled the sacred words over it and caressed the relics.
He proceeded to place his ingredients on a line along the wall of the cave: His paints made from plants, animal blood, ground chalk, and rock. All in separate small, clay bowls. Finally, he unpacked his most prized possession: a number of brushes made with bone handles and animal hair.
In front of the scaffold and cauldron they arranged a ring of rounded stones from the beach, made a hollow in the middle and soon had a fire going.
Finally, the men brought the drums from the ship and placed them along the other wall of the cave.
The bass ones were made from of logs. Hollowed out and they produced a deep, thumping sound when beaten with well-used heavy wooden sticks.
The higher pitch ones had animal skin stretched over clay or wood bowls and were worked with the fingers and hands.
Their preparations took all day and all the time the woman, Svala had been sitting absolutely still and facing the ocean.
Everything was ready just as the sun went down and touched the top of the hills on the mainland to the west.
They gathered around the fire. Except Svala. She moved to a place at the opposite side of the cauldron and she still seemed lost in deep thoughts.
Eyolf brought out a small, clay pot and mumbled the sacred words over it. Then dipped a wooden spoon in the mixture and gave each of them a portion.
They each swallowed the bitter drink, with Svala being the last.
It had a strong taste and left the mouth dry, and as it reached the stomach small convulsions went through their bodies.
Eyolf turned to his paints and the wall.
While muttering strong words he painted grain and prey and sun and rain in a long frieze on the wall.
All symbols to please the Gods and showing what they were asking from them.
When he had finished he packed everything away and went and put it back in the ship.
As the daylight faded the fire made their shadows dance on the walls.
They started beating the drums slowly and rhythmically calling upon the Gods.
Svala felt the potion begin to work. The colours became vivid, and the shadows on the wall seemed to multiply. The cave also began expanding and retracting. She felt slightly dizzy, but also very joyful. The corners of her lips went up in a small smile.
She started swaying to the drums as the rhythm slowly increased.
Darkness fell and only the fire lit up the scene. Someone threw more wood on it and the flames increased.
Svala slipped out of her bearskin and rose naked in the light. She closed her eyes and moved from side to side in the rhythm. Then began to dance around the circle of men. Stroking their heads and necks as she passed each one of them.
She picked one at random. Did not how why, but maybe the Gods were guiding her. He rose and she took his hand and led him to the back of the cave. Let her body slide up and down his and caressed him with her hands.
Slowly but still in sync with the rhythm she went to her knees, undid the knot that held his clothes together, and cupped his balls with one hand. Letting two fingers on the other hand enclose the base of his penis. Looked up at him with a smile.
"Make me fertile. Let me bring your seed to the Gods in order for them to multiply and bring prosperity to us all!"
He moaned as she softly closed her lips around his member and sucked in sync with the rhythm.
When he was good and ready, she turned. Got on all four and spread her knees. He grabbed her hips with both hands and she gasped as he entered her and pressed hard. She made her hip do a circular movement and pressed against him.
It was as if she could not get him far enough into her.
This was the first time she had had a man and it was a burning sensation when he released his seeds into her. She bit her lips not to scream and closed her eyes. Seeing strange figures dance in her head.
They stayed locked together until he became slack again and fell out.
She composed herself while he staggered back to his place by the fire.
Then she rose and began her sensual dance around the men again.
Some sticky substance was making small and tickling traces down each side of her inner legs.
She invited another man back to end of the cave and the same thing repeated itself.
She had them all and was sure the Gods would be pleased when she met them and told of how she had brought the holy seed with her.
Now the potion had had a plenty of time to work, so after the last man had left her they all got up and danced. Only Eyolf and the three playing the drums remained seated.
The cave seemed full of strange creatures to her. She danced with a lot of them and sometimes felt like floating, sometimes like riding on a wild spirit.
Finally, after many hours, she collapsed on the ground. She was half-unconscious, but happy and smiling.
She did not register that her ankles were tied together with a combination of tendons and plant fibre.
Nor did she understand or sense that she was lifted up by her ankles on the scaffold that was prepared earlier.
She hung upside down in the flickering light, but her mind was away over the seas and mountains.
She flew like the eagle.
The landscape was wonderful. Sun shone and the colours were vivid: She felt very happy and absolutely detached from her body.
She hung quite still. Her arms pointing down towards the ground
Eyolf grabbed a firm hold on her braid and used a tiny but sharp bone. Found the right place on the side of her neck and punched a very small hole.
An extremely thin red ray made a perfect arch out from her neck and into the cauldron. The ray followed her heartbeat and made a tingling sound as it rhythmically filled the cauldron with her blood.
She never realized it nor did she regain conscience.
The landscape into which her mind had gone slowly became distant. A red edge around her inner vision closed more and more. She saw it through a red tunnel. Distant in a hallucinatory haze her body and mind shut down slowly, till the ray stopped coming and she was absolutely still. Her eyes were wide open but seeing nothing.
Directed by Eyolf they took turns dipping both hands in the blood in the cauldron and then pressing them with spread fingers underneath the frieze Eyolf had painted on the cave wall earlier.
The drums slowed down and finally only the bass gave a booming sound with larger and larger intervals. Until even that stopped.
One by one the men fell back from their places around the fire and went into a deep, deep sleep.
When they woke the next morning, nothing was said. It had been a good and successful ceremony. Now they hoped the Gods would accept it and be appreciative. All that could be done had been done.
Eyolf made a hollow in the sand next to the cauldron. Lined it with sacred herbs and poured the blood into the hollow. He watched as it seeped into the ground, then covered it with more sand, wrapped the cauldron and put it back in the ship.
The others packed up and then they rowed slowly towards the mainland.
