Songs of the Sunya: Tales from the Sands of Time Volume I

ISBN 978-1-960546-43-2 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-960546-44-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-960546-45-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Adam H.C. Myrie

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Adam H.C Myrie

[email protected]

ahcmyrie.wordpress.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

The Ballad of Baghir

The Great Divide

The Lioness of the Green Sea

Glossary

Until the lions have their own historians, the

history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

-Chinua Achebe

PREFACE

The Sunya is an ancient place with a history spanning many thousands of years. According to the mythology of the Sunsha, the people of this region, the world was created and is sustained by Sun, who appears in a ball of blazing light that crosses the sky sowing light, life, and favour upon the world. Sun is not a single deity, but a combination of two: Sunshaia and Sunshadeen. Sunshaia is the deity of beauty, love, mercy, and feminine energy. She is depicted as a woman whose body is formed from water. She is faceless, and still beautiful. She weeps for the weak and protects women in child birth. Sunshadeen is the deity of life, war, power, and masculine energy. He is represented by the form of a faceless man engulfed in flames. He is the one that imparts life, also called divine fire unto all living things. When death comes, he returns to claim the divine fire of the deceased and return it to the halo of light that wreaths Sun. Sunshaia and Sunshadeen, though worshipped as separate deities are representative of the male and female energy that begets life, and combined they form Sun. It is said that when a man and woman make love, the ecstasy of their climax is the closest they will ever come to being one with the gods before they die.

The Sunsha people are divided into three tribes: The Rahmineen, the Rahisheen, and the Jahisha. During the Age of Innocence they were all one people. They split apart after a dispute between the three patriarchs that gave the tribes their names: Rahmi, Rahi, and Jahi. The dispute was over the punishment for Rahi’s great-grandson Izkah, who murdered his twin brother Imsaid over Yahuia, a woman they both loved. Rahmi demanded exile, Rahi begged clemency, and Jahi would settle for no less than an execution. When Izkah was found dead, killed in the night by an unknown murderer, all of the people turned on each other and the patriarchs went their separate ways, taking their kin with them and spreading throughout the Sunya.

The people of the Sunya share their history through songs and poems. Many of these songs come from the years prior to the War of Banishment, when Rahi the Merciful, the founding ruler of Komas and a direct descendant of Bhagir, banished Mauta, the king of the Dzinee¹. This was the most devastating war in Sunsha history. Forests were laid waste in ravenous fires; many of the mythic beasts that participated in the fighting were wiped from the face of the earth forever, and for the first time in millennia, the Rahisheen and the Jahisha tribes fought together against a common enemy instead of each other, immortalized in the poem The Axe of Fire.

Songs and poems about stories like this one are passed down through the generations, memorized by scribes, poets, and elders. They are shared in the sacred houses, around campfires, and at family gatherings. In the early days the Sunsha spoke a language called Old Sunsha, also called the Old Tongue. The script for the language was created during the Age of Clans when the city states began to form and scribes scribbled the first words on strips of vellum and tablets of clay. The poems of their ancient past are more valuable than gold, silver, or pearls to many of the Sunsha. They remind them of the great legacies of their forebears and of the power of their gods. They tell stories of gods and monsters, of heroes and villains, of magic and beasts.

This book contains three stories from those ancient times: The Ballad of Bhagir, The Great Divide, and The Lioness of the Green Sea. These stories are foundational to the history and civilization of the Sunsha people, as they each detail moments in history that changed the world forever. Each of these tales has been immortalized in poetic form. They are told and retold, time and time again among the Sunsha people. Now, these tales are shared with you. I hope that you enjoy this first journey through the sands of time and into the history of the Sunya as the people themselves share their lore with you.

Salayem na sulayamneen fitayat anuneen²,

Adam H.C. Myrie

¹ Creatures created during the time of Ama, the first Red Cloak as protectors of the weak, they were born of the corruption of nature and now serve the Dark Sages

² Peace and blessings be upon (all of) you

The Ballad

of

Baghir

Prologue

Faster! Faster, Grandfather, catch me! A’azgimai giggled, running as fast as her little brown legs could carry her.

ROOAAAAR! Khufu raised his staff high and waddled after her playfully, the polished stones on his necklace swaying from one side to the other. I’ll catch you yet little cub! ROOAAAR!

A’azgimai hopped over and slid under the bent roots of the titanic trees that shaded the jungle floor, snorting with laughter as her grandfather pretended to snarl like a wild animal.

Sun had just finished painting the morning sky with the bright hues of a new day. Rays of light shone between the leaves of the verdant canopy above them. Birds and monkeys had their usual conversations and exchanged hoots and chirps while dancing from branch to branch.

You can’t catch me! I am the great Bhagir! Fast like a jungle cat! She stood triumphantly on a large stone, her tiny hands on her hips. No one can catch me!

Fast you are my cub, but never forget, no one is ever too fast to be caught. The old man scanned the thick undergrowth around them with his good eye. When you are this far away from the village, you never know who is watching, man or beast. Now come down from there, we have water berries to find.

"And honey too, you promised to show me how to get honeycombs. Ama³ gave me a special egg so I wouldn’t lose any." She proudly held up the hollowed shell of an ostrich egg hanging from a strap on her bare shoulder.

Yes yes, now come down and we can get the water berries, then later I will teach you how to smoke out the bees so they don’t bite. Khufu mocked an angry grimace to his granddaughter’s delight before holding out his hand.

A’azgimai started to climb down from the high stone when a shape moving in the shadows caught Khufu’s eye. There was slight rustling in the bushes just paces away from where A’azgimai once stood.

A’azgimai! Khufu’s voice was urgent this time. He quickened his pace to close the distance between them, the uneven ground and gnarled roots obstructing his path. Come hither, come quickly!

Before she could answer or quicken her pace, a black form shot forth from the undergrowth, its intent was clear.

DOWN A’AZGIMAI! He bellowed. DOWN LIKE I TAUGHT YOU!

His little cub did as she was told and dropped to her belly, just as the black form flew over, its attempt to tackle her thwarted. Without further prompting, A’azgimai made for the roots of the tree, crawling under and between them while the beast reoriented himself to give chase.

"CHICHEU⁴! Khufu raised his staff, now blazing white with the sacred fire of his Ra⁵. Anu p’at wahdit baq yalla karera laimar! Tag zahit bnit Bhagir dakera!⁶"

The panther stopped in his tracks and watched the old man, then looked at the girl. It knew what that fire meant, and the sacred words Khufu spoke carried more weight than his hunger.

Back into the bush with you! There is plenty of meat for you there! Khufu ordered the beast. This cub is not for you!

Without hesitation the panther returned to the brush from whence it came. As soon as the beast was gone, the divine fire that illuminated Khufu’s staff disappeared.

A’azgimai! The old man ran to pull his granddaughter out from under the roots by her trembling arm. She sobbed, terrified by the prospect of nearly being eaten. O, my sweet child. O, my precious little star. He scooped her into his arms and clutched her braided head to the scar in the shape of a panther’s claw on his ebony chest. The panther is gone now. He knows who you are. He will never come for you again, nor shall any of his kind. Sunshadeen will punish him if he does.

A’azgimai nodded as Khufu wiped the last tears from her cheeks. Her grandfather’s heartbeat was reassuring. For all the uncounted monsoons he has lived, his heart was as strong as ever. Sometimes she would lay on his chest, lulled to sleep by the gentle rhythm that danced behind the symbol of their line.

Khufu lifted her chin and kissed her forehead, his scruffy grey locks tumbling about his shoulders. Let’s go home, my precious star; I will take you to get water berries and honeycombs tomorrow.

No. She replied defiantly. You said that the panther would never come for me again, and I have you here to protect me, O Wise Elder. Why should we go back to the village now?

He smiled and put her back on the ground. Why should we?

Little A’azgimai stood with arms akimbo and her chest puffed out proudly. Why should we?

Khufu chuckled and offered his hand. You are definitely one of mine.

I am definitely one of yours. A’azgimai took his hand and walked with him. Grandfather, when will you teach me Ra?

Ra is already within you, my precious star. When you are ready is when you will learn how to harness it. The power runs deep in our family. Khufu replied. When you have mastered it, you will be able to speak to the panthers like your elders.

Can you tell me the story of the first ancestor to speak to a panther again? I love that story." She looked up at him, her wide brown eyes still looking for reassurance.

You can ask me a hundred times, and I would tell you the story one hundred and one. Khufu smiled. Now where do I begin?

First Blood

(11,000 years before the War of Banishment)

Sun had not yet come up to paint the sky. All the world seemed to slumber, save the bloodthirsty. Silent as stalking cats they sought their quarry. The recompense they came to claim was a long time coming. The brood of Jahi had sent one too many raiding parties, and it was time they got their due. The last time they attacked, the Jahisha took with them many good hides, dried meat, precious stones, children and women: the spoils of war. In truth, the Jahisha attack was reprisal for an attack from the Rahmineen clan, whose attack was a response to an attack by the Jahisha. The feud between the two clans had endured for so many generations, none of the current combatants were alive to see or even remember the insult that was the genesis of their enmity. The only thing that mattered was revenge, an interminable cycle that begat itself anew with each act of sanguineous barbarism. This morning was no different.

Are we there yet? Asaburat whispered. I can’t see a damned thing.

Shut your idiot mouth Shadiyouni rasped. You may not see but they will certainly hear your flapping gob.

Both of you shut up whispered Rahi. You are going to spook Wild Cat, this is his first raiding party and I would like for it not to be his last, or mine for that matter. So be quiet.

Bhagir only half listened to his friends’ exchange before it was drowned out by the drums of war pounding in his chest. Rahi spoke truth; this was Bhagir’s first raiding party, and that fact riddled him with anxiety. Despite being among the most adept hunters in his village, he was no killer of men. Once Bhagir had run down a golden deer and brought it down with his bare hands. The ivory tip if his javelin had broken in the chase. Bhagir had little recourse but to throw himself at his prey and grab him by the hind legs. The golden buck tumbled down and knife in hand, Bhagir finished the deed with the efficiency of an apex predator. His fellow hunters were so impressed that they started to call him Wild Cat.

When the chiefs of the twelve Rahmineen villages came calling for men to go on a raiding party, Bhagir volunteered. His objective was vengeance for the injury done to his parents during the last dry season. In seasons past, Bhagir’s father had done his part in fighting the Jahisha. When he lost almost half of his arm in a Jahisha attack last dry season, he was forced to put his raiding days behind him. Now a man at fifteen, Bhagir was ready to take his place and avenge the insult.

Bhagir’s skulking was stopped by a hand to the chest. Shadiyouni tapped Bhagir’s shoulder and pointed to the forest canopy with his lips. Sun was painting the sky, and the Jahisha village was in sight. Bhagir scanned the area, looking over the simple fence of dry thorny bushes erected around the perimeter. In the early dawn, there were few signs of life in the village, save the odd mongrel pacing between the conical mud huts, proudly carrying the bones left over from last night’s dinner. Bhagir watched the eerie foreshadowing of the aftermath of the impending violence.

The dogs were too engrossed in their attempts to break through to the marrow of the bones they claimed to notice their approach. Y’arit⁷ Ayoub, the chief of Bhagir’s village, advanced slowly, waving a thick and heavily scarred midnight arm to his chosen men to come forward. They slinked ahead of the band of warriors carrying a heavy log. He pointed to the gate which was an assemblage of sticks tied together with bark cord. The leader of the group nodded and directed his team towards the gate. Y’arit Ayoub motioned to the rest of the men to ready their weapons. Men with shields in the front, men with bows and slings in the back, everyone else stood in the middle and readied themselves for the charge. The men with the log worked themselves into position and awaited their orders.

Y’arit Ayoub counted down from five with his fingers, balling them into a fist one at a time. When he curled his thumb, a battle cry followed. BLOOOD FIRE!

Bhagir and the others whooped and roared ferociously as those bearing the great log charged forward and beat down the gate with a single strike. They threw the log to the side and the warriors rushed in. Bhagir was placed in front with the other shield bearers, his small rawhide shield and antler-tipped spear his only protection. As the men raged into the village like an angry black flood, the Jahisha villagers scrambled from their sleeping furs and out of their huts to meet their attackers. There was no contest, for the element of surprise was with the Rahmineen. Frozen with horror and disbelief, Bhagir witnessed his kin stab, hack, and bludgeon their way through their victims. His spear point remained dry.

Bhagir! A familiar voice called him out of his trance.

Bhagir looked to the direction of the voice. There came Asaburat and Rahi dragging one of the Jahisha men by his ruddy arms and matted afro.

No! he protested in terror while he kicked his legs before being thrown at Bhagir’s feet.

What is this? Bhagir asked his friends.

Do you not recognize the man? Asaburat yanked the Jahisha’s head up by his hair to show his face. Look at the scar across his nose.

Bhagir looked closer. He did know the man. The memory flashed in his head as clearly as the moment itself. He remembered the scarred man. Bhagir was on his knees, bound by the hands to his sisters and brothers. His mother lay on her stomach, weeping and bleeding from between her legs while his father lay on his stomach with a Jahisha foot holding his head in place, forcing him to watch their crime against his wife’s honour. The man with the scarred nose stood over his mother, fixing his loincloth and waving his stone axe over her head. He taunted Bhagir’s parents, telling Bhagir’s mother that she should be proud to have known the touch of a real man. The scarred man and his comrades laughed while Bhagir’s village burned and his father screamed threats of revenge. The laughing stopped, and then the axe came down. Three cuts later Bhagir’s father was short half an arm. Bhagir felt the ropes squeeze his wrist. Had more Rahmineen not come from the other villages to save them, Bhagir was sure the scarred man would have cut his father apart, one piece at a time. Now that same man lay before him, a quivering heap of cowardice.

Anger welled up inside of him. Bhagir’s wrists still remembered the tightness of the rope that bound them when the Jahisha attacked. He felt it every time he remembered scarred man and what he had done. You were brave last dry season when you ravaged my mother and took my father’s hand. Where is your bravery now?

The man did not answer.

ANSWER ME! Bhagir trembled with anger, his heart pounding in his chest. This was what he came for.

Here is his axe. Asaburat placed the weapon in his hand.

It was finely made. The stone head was slender and sharp; the leather thong used to fasten it to the smooth, curved haft was discoloured by the blood it had shed in its years of use. A darkness that shall not be named overtook him and with a shout of vengeance satisfied the axe came down. Then it came down again, and again, and again, and then the scarred man was no more.

The Golden Gaze

The moonless air was alive with a chorus sung by the creatures of the night. Bhagir lay awake and stared unblinking into the blackness. He could see no stars as the jungle canopy kept their light from its floor. The last embers from their campfire had died out and all that remained was the smell of smoke and the sound of sobbing whispers. He closed his eyes and covered his ears to block it out, but like the memories of the last dry season, the sobs of women and girls they had captured would not end. Deprived of food and water, their sluggish plodding slowed the pace of the raiding party’s return. Women, girls, and young boys too small to hunt or fight were bound with bark cord and leather straps. Some of the participants in the raid where Bhagir got his