People of the Mist(66)

To be sure, when “in his moods,” he’d thrown things at his own statue of Okeus, taunting the god, and nothing terrible had ever happened to him. What was it about his people’s obsession with Okeus that irritated him so? The unfairness that Ohona had been virtually forgotten in the ceremonies and ritual?

“Maybe we deserve what we get?”

“Elder?” Sun Conch followed behind, keeping her place as surely as a shadow.

“Nothing. Just the mumbling of a cranky old man.” % Overhead, light from the quarter-moon cast a faint glow on the last of the low clouds being blown out to sea. A few stars sparkled defiantly through the hazy air. Around the village, the dark fields were silent. The frosted cornstalks, beans, and squash vines reflected faintly.

Panther puffed a white breath and watched it rise before his face. The temperature was dropping toward a hard freeze. By morning the mist would rise as cold air rolled over the warmer waters.

In the village behind him, voices rose and fell in the babble of human conversations. He shook his head. Being around people rasped at his soul like sand on soft wood. The long moons of exile had wrought a change in him, made him brittle around mobs. He wanted nothing more than the solace to recenter himself, put his thoughts in order. Even the soft footfalls behind him irked.

Panther stifled a sudden urge to turn and growl at Sun Conch, but the girl’s presence was Panther’s own fault: a burden he would have to bear until this thing ended.

“We have done good work this day,” Panther remarked to ease his conscience. Sun Conch paused for a moment, then asked, “Why did you stop the fight, Elder? What difference would it have made to you if Black Spike had wiped out Nine Killer and his warriors? These aren’t your people.”

“I stopped it, girl, because it was foolishness—passion turned loose without direction. If Black Spike had killed Nine Killer and his warriors, the act would have been irrevocable. Remember this, my friend: When an arrow is loosed, you can’t call it back no matter how desperately you watch its course through the sky. Human actions can be just as final.” He frowned out at the night, craving the deathly stillness of the fields. “And, we must see. Was Red Knot murdered specifically to start this war? If we are seeking to thwart the killer, we must try to do so in all ways, for an evil committed must not be allowed to flourish.”

“But, Elder,” she said, “we worship Okeus, and he’s a capricious god.”

Panther snorted in derision. “Yes, I know. Okeus is worshiped, and Ohona fades from memory like yesterday’s mist. Have you ever considered that, Sun Conch? What does it tell us about people that they worship the god of chaos and pain, and forget the god of peace and goodwill?”

“Well, Elder, Ohona doesn’t need us to placate him because he’s already good. He wouldn’t harm us, but Okeus would.”

“So?”

“So, since Okeus is the dangerous one, if you please him through your actions and offerings, he won’t inflict disaster upon you.”

“Gull dung! How simple can you get?”

“Elder? I… I don’t understand.”

“Well, think, youngster. Consider it from the aspect of Okeus. It matters not what he does, then, does it? If he brews up a terrible storm, the people suffer through it; then they provide him with offerings in hopes he won’t do it again. So, he sends another storm, and they scurry around to lay twice as many offerings at his feet. Now, if that was the case, and you were Okeus, what would you do?”

Sun Conch said, “Send yet another storm.”

“And you can imagine what Ohona feels. He spreads sunshine, helps people have a good harvest—despite

Okeus and his schemes—and who do these pesky people build a temple to?”

“Okeus.”

“That’s right, Okeus. It’s a wonder Ohona sheds any of his grace on us, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Elder. But, well, it’s because it’s his nature, isn’t it? To be benevolent, no matter what?”

“It is. Now, think further. Where did Okeus and Ohona come from?” “They were born of First Woman after she dropped from the World Tree.”

“Indeed. Twins. What does that tell us about Okeus and his nature?”

“That he, too, must do what his nature dictates.”

“Ah! So, what implication does that have for all of these temples raised to him?”

Sun Conch stood for a moment, her head bowed. “I see. That’s why you have the two shrines on your island. That’s why you said I wasn’t ready for the answer.” She paused. “But, Elder, why did you feed Okeus that day? Why build a shrine to him at all if he is always working against us?”