The End of the Harraki and the First of the People

There is a tale told among some sects of the druids of the world called the Tale of the Harraki. It is a tale scoffed at by scholars, for it talks of humans being the first race and makes no mention of the other beings with which we share the world. It talks of places "between leaves" where dreams are real and the gods interact with mortals, gods unheard of and spirits that do not exist.

In the beginning there was only the forest. Three voice-men emerged from the forest, long and thin, with gourds for faces and hollow, black eyes. Their limbs were made of sticks bound together by cloth rope. The gods spoke to them and through them, and with this power, they created creatures out of the forest, animals and plants to work the will of the gods outside the between-leaves.

When they had done, the gods called them back to the mountains and Ruakulu, the between-leaves of the undergrowth. Knowing that the world needed stewards to guard it, they came together and began to make people out of mud and stone, with leaves from the trees. They split the forest into parts, and then climbed to the top of Ruakulu, the mountain in the undergrowth. The gods agreed, and called the beast they made the beast of knowledge.

They told the beasts where each sacred site was, and where a limitless supply of the other beasts dwelled, and they would continue to be placed into the world, so long as the beasts of knowledge sang the songs and performed the rites of the three voice-men. These were the rites of Looking After Country, and the beasts wrote them down in their dreams.

The people they made were fifty strong, and before long, began to get hungry. They made weapons out of the forest to catch food, and bowls to capture water so they would not be thirsty. Since there were as many animals as they wanted using the Looking After Country songs, they did not curb themselves and ate their fill.

They built a few villages in the trees, and for a time lived in peace and harmony. Ilahai of the gods decreed that no spirit or god associate with the beast of knowledge, for to make it able to perform the rites of Looking After Country, it had to be able to invent new things and slay animals. Granting it the knowledge of spirits would only be asking for trouble.

However, all was not well in the between-leaves, for Bidjuju the black shadow, the shortest and slimmest voice-man, did not like beasts getting the knowledge of making beasts. He gathered together all his own beasts and gave them the knowledge too, specifically, he gave the wasps and bees the power to make their own kind out of mud and wax. He sent them off into the jungle, and was satisfied with his work.

It soon became apparent that this was a mistake. The wasps and bees, without knowledge of excess, soon became too numerous, forcing the people to hunt them. This caused a great war, which lasted many years, and the people dwindled in number until Ilahai was convinced to make a move. He told Budjuju the black shadow to do something, and so, unable to steal the knowledge back, he simply made wasps and bees ever so much smaller. Still jealous, he stole away some of the original giant insects and hid them.

The beasts of knowledge, however, had shrunk in number by only half, so many of them having been dead and gone. There were so few of them, so they begged the gods in the between-leaves knowledge of the sacred places where the beasts of knowledge could be sung, and they refused. They instead sought out the beasts and gathered them together. They explained the situation, and the beasts could not think of any way to help, which made them upset because without the beasts of knowledge, all beasts of the forest were doomed.

That was when Abir-Akkai the bird spoke up. He knew of the caves in Ruakulu, but to get to them, they would have to ask permission of Gudjhara the lizard. So the beasts went, and asked the lizard for his help. He happily directed them to the caves, from which lights and whispers ushered.

"You will find two caves," he said, "one whispers and is warm, but filled with the sounds of creation, and one howls and is cold, but is filled also with the sounds of destruction. Half of you must go inside one cave, and the other half go inside the other."

So the beasts went up the mountain to find the caves, and after many days of deliberation, they decided who was to go into which cave. As they came out on the other side of the mountain, they found themselves changed; those who entered the cave of whispers became women, and those who entered the cave of howls became men.

"Now you are part of each other," Gudjhara said, "you can make more of yourselves, but only through cooperation."

They returned to their villages, and before long, there were many more beasts of knowledge, but they were not yet people. An age passed, and a spirit from between-leaves came upon a beast of knowledge bathing herself in the river. He found himself drawn to her, and raped her.

The voice-men told Ilahai, who was outraged at both what the beasts of knowledge had done to themselves and what the spirit had done; he chastised the beasts of knowledge for not having the foresight to know that this would bring temptation to the between-leaves, and castrated the spirit who raped the young beast of knowledge with a spade-tipped spear. Throwing the spear into the pond where the woman was bathing, he declared that the damage was done, and alerted her that she was with child now.

When the infant was born, there was much worry among the beasts of knowledge. The child had a spirit, but was also made of the forest. They eventually decided to raise him as they would any other child, but with great care. Named Behrayi, he eventually grew into a young man, and it was discovered that he had inherited the gifts of the spirits. The mothers of the village fought over who we was going to marry, and this brought hardship to the beasts; crops went unsown, song went unsung, and they forgot their place in an effort to marry off the boy. The young man, for his part, discovered that his presence was causing this hardship, and so went to the between-leaves, where he sought out Ilahai on his throne.

He told Ilahai of what was happening to the beasts of knowledge, and stated that he would be acting. Ilahai decreed himself unable to act to stop Behrayi, as he was a beast of flesh, but he would also get no aid. Behrayi threw open the doors of the great forests on his own, making his way into the very heart of the world and the great banyan there. Tearing his flesh to pieces, he used the flesh to feed the snake that lived at the base of the world banyan, which became enraged at the taste of it and began to destroy the forest.

Now that Behrayi was a spirit only, Ilahai was forced to act. He took the banyan snake and tore it into two pieces, one light and one dark, and set them above the banyan so they would forever fight without the forest being in danger. He set about to punish the boy, but the boy nodded at him and spoke.

"Now you have made good and evil," he said, "and it is even now leaking into the forest outside the leaves. The beasts of knowledge will have the power of spirits, and they will each be like me, unless you make them that way first."

"What do you suggest?" asked Ilahai, "shall I slay them with my spear? You have made a mockery of the spirits to stop a simple quarrel among the beasts."

"A quarrel that would one day reach between the leaves. Now, tear apart my spirit as I did the flesh," Behrayi explained, "and put each piece inside each beast of knowledge as it is born, and so each one will have a piece of spirit, but never one as great as I."

"But what of all the other beasts and creations? Surely they will become jealous of the beasts of knowledge."

"Then bury me in the land and I, the child of flesh and spirit, will be in them all."

Ilahai could not argue with the boy's reasoning; he slew him with his spear and buried the spirit in the center of the forest. To facilitate the spread of Behrayi's spirit into all things, he split the forest into many forests, making the boy's tomb the center of them all, and set the banyan in the middle, on top of the grave. Before long, all the beast and trees being born had a portion of this spirit inside them, and even Ilahai was moved to happiness in seeing the outside-leaves spring with green and swell with life.

The beasts of knowledge were now people, and they named themselves the Harraki, after the song the voice-men used to first sing them into being. They split into six groups and spread into the six forests, each guarding different sacred spaces and taking different Looking After Country songs and stories.

With the freedom of the worlds, the weakening of the boundary of flesh, and the concepts of good and evil, the dark spirits from between leaves were allowed to enter the physical world as well. Also, the new beats and plants being sung into existence could make more of themselves, just like the people. With no need for the songs, they eventually faded from the people, folding into the body of the great spiritual knowledge that the Harraki possessed.

Evil creatures could exist, as could creatures of good and creatures of either. The Harraki fought the evil creatures spawned by greed and hate, as well as the monsters created by the shadows between leaves crafted by the spirits born of evil, as well. One of these spirits, Jekahi the corrupter, was renowned for his craftiness and trickery.

It so happened that during this age there had been a child born named Leraht. He was the son of Gurdaki, the hero of the war of taint, the first wave of battle against the spirits of jealousy. In his later years, he had become scarred with envy, and so left the village to seek out a last battle. He came across Jekahi, who took the guise of a sickly old man and tricked Gurdaki into taking his hand.

Once done, Jekahi took possession of Gurdaki's body and sought out a village of the people in the forest of the centipede. He went to them, possessing cowries to pay for his goods and services, cowries of such elegant beauty the people had never seen the like. They began to use them more and more often, and even fought over them when accepting change or payment. He continued to spread them through the village until they murdered one of their own in a crowded market; he told them that was not needed, and that he had gotten them from a nearby village.

The elder immediately sent for him, knowing him as a hero from the past generation, and asked him to aid them in making war on the neighboring village. He accepted. He told them they could make war-beasts and monsters if only they slightly changed the songs of the Looking After Country, twisting their forest into a place of war. They made monsters, thorns, and vicious armor, weaving their silk to black and deep red, they marched upon the neighboring villages, taking them down one by one, and Jekahi made sure the precious cowries flowed like water, crafted of hate and fear.

In the meantime, he taunted the dreams of the hero's wife, laughing madly as he brought all manner of punishments on her husband and belittling their unborn son. When he was finally born, the hero's wife named him Tjajari. He grew strong among the villagers, despite Jekahi's taunts, and became a skilled craftsman.

            The elder of the village, an old woman named Ajaya, was a woman who had never married, but had a daughter all the same. As a young woman, she was very poor and had no parents. She sought out the chieftain of a tribe deep within another forest and asked him for work. Finding none, she found herself turned away. Insistent, she sought out the chief's counselors and asked each of them for work. Finally, one said that the chief decreed if anyone could go forth and return with the feathers of Abir-Akkai the bird, they could gain the ability to hold the position of elder in a nearby village.

            Resolute, she started to march across the land, seeking out flesh and spirit. She had not gone more than a few days before encountering a leopard caught in the vines. It called to her for aid, and promised to help whenever she called on him. Agreeing, she cut the vines loose, and he said his name was Pujigat in leaving, telling her to cry it out when in danger.

            Still going, she continued until she came to the gates of the forest. Seeing the doors before her, she struggled to open them, but her key failed to work and the stone doors had grown ever so heavy. She sat down and began to cry. Soon, winding its way through the trees, came a horrible wind. She recognized it as the gale that followed Enasopra, the king of dragonflies.

            He asked her why she was so bitter with tears. She explained that she sought out the feathers of Abir-Akkai the bird, and her key to the forests and the between leaves-stepping had stopped working. She was more distraught at the loss of her ability to travel the forests than she was at losing her future position as elder of a village. Enasopra proclaimed that it must be one of the barriers in her way, for all things are a trial. Agreeing, she asked for his aid in crossing the between leaves into the forest of the night where Abir-Akkai was said to dwell. He agreed, if only she would take a dragonfly egg with her.

            She did so, and Enasopra bore her on his back through the door to the forest of the night. She took one of Enasopra's eggs and pocketed it, promising to take it to a place with no dragonflies. Soon she met an old hunter in a gourd-house who inquired what she sought, and he laughed and told her that he sought something similar. He only wished to free Abir-Akkai, who had been imprisoned by a troupe of monstrous beings from outside the forest. She asked how that could be, and he could only say he did not know. Too old and infirm to rescue the bird himself, he gave her his old spear saying that whatever she struck its flat against would be destroyed.

            Coming to the great ruin, she saw that it was surrounded by many giants, who were great hairy beasts with the faces of snakes and tails covered in blades. They immediately ran out to seize her, and they went unarmed because they saw her as just a young girl. At first she was tossed to and fro until she noticed that the ruin halls were made of stone, and many great stone heads littered the land.

            Waiting for the giants to get close, she smacked the spear against the rocks, showering them with sharp stones. Eventually, they ran away in fear after two of them were slain, leaving the ruin unguarded. Entering, Ajaya told the captive Abir-Akkai of the reason for her visit, and was only too happy to be freed from his bonds that he would accompany her to the chief's land in person, let alone gift her with some feathers. She asked for a few feathers anyway, and put them in her pouch.

            Returning to the gateways, they met the king of dragonflies once again, who took them through back to the forest of veils where the chief waited, with Enasopra instructing her to throw his egg at the floor of the chief's hut. When they arrived, the chief was so overjoyed at the presence of Abir-Akkai the bird that he immediately made the both of them a guest of honor. At once, Ajaya took the egg from her pouch and threw it at the floor, where it blossomed into a woman with brilliant red hair and smooth, perfect skin.

            The chief was impressed, for Ajaya had brought a woman from the forest, and from the king of dragonflies, no less. He immediately begged the woman to marry him. She shook her head, and said that she could not be his wife until she had a proper bracelet, one carved from the throne of bone that sits in the underworld of the between leaves. He charged Ajaya with finding such a bracelet, and she set out again.

            Uncertain of what to do, she wandered the forest for many days searching for an entrance to the underworld amid the between leaves. Unable to find one, she turned to Abir-Akkai, who offered no help, only stating that one would need a jaguar to enter the underworld and fetch a bone. Smiling, she called out for Pujigat, who arrived in a swirl of black wind. She told him of what the chief had said, and he agreed. Holding on to his tail, they entered the underworld.

            In those days, the underworld was mostly empty, for people and animals had not had souls for very long, and so they were easily able to track down the throne. Cutting off a piece of it, Ajaya stole her way back to the forest, carving a bracelet as she sat upon the jaguar's back. She returned to the chief and presented him with the bracelet. The chief then gave the dragonfly's daughter the gift, and asked again to marry her. She agreed, but only if Ajaya would raise their first daughter, who would be born after their first son, and he would sever all family ties between them. He agreed, excited that she could guarantee him a son.

She first bore him a son as promised, and he was overjoyed. When she bore the daughter, he had his three strongest warriors carry her to Ajaya, who by now was village elder. Ajaya named the child Reiaha, and raised her amongst the villagers; as a child, she spent her youth around Tjajari and the blacksmith's son Hagatja. Being the daughter of the dragonfly princess and the chief of the forest, she advanced quickly through her shamanistic training, unlocking her spirit-body quickly and mastering the rudiments of the forest's power.

Once an adult, Tjajari began to dream of Jekahi, finding himself taunted by him. The man who was his father defeated him and said that he would destroy the happiness of the forest, and soon sent his now corrupt army to the village, slaughtering the people. He escaped with the aid of Ajaya and a few warriors, the survivors fleeing to a cave in the center of an ancient ruin. Taking Ajaya's old spear, he pledged to set out and kill the man his father had become and trap Tekahi inside an acorn.

Before leaving, he was given the title of village hunter, giving him the ability to traverse the forest and the between leaves. He was married to Reiaha, as was custom, and even Reiaha's true mother arrived, to give the pair her wedding bracelet made out of the underworld's throne. Afterwards, the pair set out for the forest. They met with Pujigat, who told them that the sacred places had been violated, and the only way to prevent further destruction was to seal them away completely.

They then set out for the sacred places, seeking the villages and the lines that would close the land away from singing more animals and plants out of the dirt. Many had fallen into ruin in the wake of Tekahi's armies, and so their songs had already been changed, making it impossible to fix. There were many battles, and while the trio grew strong, they could not close the doors to the between leaves. Eventually, they came across Abir-Akkai the bird, who told them to go see the lizard Gudjhara on the mountain.

They trekked for many days until coming to him. The lizard took one look at Tjajari and Reiaha, and said that he would not help unless Tjajari wrestled him. If Tjajari lost, the dragonfly daughter would become his wife, and if Tjajari won, he would tell them the secret to closing the sacred places.

Tjajari and Gudjhara fought for many days, for while he was touching the mountain, Gudjhara was invincible, but Tjajari was the greatest warrior of the entire forest. The battle only ended when Abir-Arraki grew tired of the struggle and cause a gust of wind that lifted the combatants into the air. At first, Gudjhara protested, but relented when Pujigat pointed out that he had not exactly said outside interference was not allowed. He nodded and agreed to tell them the truth.

He told them that the between leaves held the secret to destroying the sacred places. To do this, two people must go between leaves and find the serpents of good and evil, and cut down the sacred banyan there. Doing this would have the same effect as burying the spirit of Behrayi; the sacred places would be closed, for their power would be spread throughout creation. It would have the side effect of further spreading magical power over the land and spawning strange creatures, but Tekahi would no longer be able to craft new monsters for his armies, which by now had grown even stranger in shape and size.

Resolute, the group decided to do it. Moving between leaves, they snuck their way into the center of the between leaves forest and sought out the marsh where the banyan grew. They spent a day debating on how to cut down the tree, until Tjajari smacked the tree with his spear. The great tree shattered to splinters, and he planted his spear in the trunk.

The party left the between leaves satisfied, but still on the trail of Tekahi. They tracked down his army to the villagers' hiding place and together fought a great battle. Tjajari eventually wrestled the man who was his father to the ground and beat him with the cover stone of a pillar while Tekahi fought back with magical knives that spat ice and smoke. As the both of them lay dying, Reiaha saw the spirit of Tekahi begin to leave the body and move toward the sky.

She took off her true mother's wedding bracelet and used it to hook the escaping Tekahi, stuffing him back inside Gurdaki's body. Acting quickly, she asked Pujigat to extract Tekahi's immortality from the body, but not his soul. He willingly obliged, and Reiaha quickly ate it, preventing him from reincarnating.

She took both bodies, calling out to the surviving villagers and the members of Tekahi's army, who could now see they were misled, and took them to a great funeral pyre. After watching them burn, Reiaha took the ashes and moved them to the great corners of the forest and even between leaves, placing the last of the jars at the base of the spear next to the spirit banyan.

With devouring Tekahi's immortality, however, she had become more spirit than could stay with the people. Ilahai decreed that she leave the forest for that which was beyond. Unable to disagree, she left.

In time, as all things do, the Harraki people faded to memory, the forests vanishing as the world was visited by fate and greater gods, who made the soil their plaything and the people rose and fell. Through it all walked Reiaha, now lost even to time, last of the Harraki people.