Beyond the Valley of Mist (19 page)

With that remark, Zen had
the men who had come to the altar tie the High Priest with a vine
and then hand the ends of the vine to each of the young
couple.

“
Ren,” Zen said, “you can
walk on one side of the Fire with your end, and Lor can walk on the
other side with her end. That way, you can help the unwilling
priest to enter the Fire.”

“
Yes! I will help him to
enter the Fire,” Ren yelled.

Lor hesitated. She was
reluctant to burn the evil priest who, only moments ago, was going
to cast her into the same flames.

Lor’s father stepped
forward. “I will take my daughter’s place,” he said, as he grabbed
the end of the vine his daughter was holding. The desire for
justice showed plainly in both his and his future son-in-law’s
faces. They were ready on command to drag the hated priest into the
Fire.

Zen grasped the High Priest
by the hair, ripped the trappings of priesthood from him, and said
in a loud voice, “I will ask those men to show you pity, if you
will confess that you have been lying, and that you have been using
fear to control them. Speak now, or you will be thrown into the
Fire!”

The priest whispered a
frightened, “Yes! It is true.”

“
You must say it louder,”
Zen said. “Say it loud enough so that the people in the back row
can hear you. If one man says he cannot hear you, I will throw you
into the Fire myself.”

The priest yelled, “I have
been lying! I have deceived you and played you for
fools!”

A roar came from the
people. They yelled, “Throw the pig into the Fire!” The soldiers
and underling priests cowered in the background.

Zen held the priest’s head
over the Fire and commanded, “Tell your soldiers to lay down their
weapons and proceed to the ceremonial cave. Tell them they will be
searched, and if they are carrying weapons, they will be killed on
the spot, and then tell your underling priests to remain on stage
and watch.”

The priest said, “I can’t
tell them that. They will kill
me
if I do.”

“
And I will kill you if you
don’t,” Zen replied. “Do you want to die now, or do you want to
take your chances with your underling priests and soldiers? Make up
your mind.”

Zen again grabbed the
priest by the hair and dragged him closer to the pit.

The High Priest felt the
heat from the fire. “Do as he says!” he screamed. “Put down your
weapons and walk into the cave.”

When the soldiers
hesitated, Zen pushed the High Priest’s head farther over the
flames.

“
Do as he says!” the High
Priest screamed again.

The soldiers began walking
into the cave, placing their weapons in a pile in front of the
cave. As they walked through the line of men, they were searched.
One of the soldiers was trying to conceal a knife under his robes.
The man searching him grabbed a stone axe, struck the soldier on
the head, and said to the other soldiers, “Now drag him back into
the cave with you.”

As he handed the High
Priest to the men who had stepped forward, Zen said, “Tie this
priest to the standing rock, and leave him there for the night.
Then send the underling priests into the cave with the soldiers.
Tomorrow, we will decide what to do with the ones who have been
holding you in fear for so long.”

Then Zen turned to the
audience. “Please gather around the mouth of the cave and be
seated. Do not be frightened. You will not be harmed.”

After their excitement
subsided enough to pay attention, Zen walked to the center of the
sacrificial altar, his shield and sword reflecting the light of the
fire. The fathers of Lor and Ren stood behind him. He signaled for
silence. The audience sat in silent expectation. On his signal,
dirt poured from the roof of the cave, landed on the sacrificial
fire, and smothered the flame. Pandemonium ensued. Zen had just
killed their God!

Zen was expecting just such
a reaction. He walked back and forth across the stage, urging the
people to be calm. When at last he was able to console and reassure
them, they settled down.

On Zen’s signal, a new pile
of wood was placed in the pit that had contained the fire; he then
held up a firestone. Everyone became quiet. He knelt over the wood
and struck the firestone with another stone and a flame burst
forth. In only a moment, he had another fire roaring in the same
spot. The audience was awestruck. They couldn’t believe what they
had just seen! They had seen their God killed, then brought back to
life right before their eyes. Is Zen God? Who is this man,
performing these miraculous feats? They knew him as the young man
who had defied their God and, with three other young Lalocks, had
escaped into the Valley of Mist. In all history, no one had ever
entered the Valley of Death and returned. Many men had tried, and
all had failed. Now, these young people had returned from the awful
Valley of Death. They had survived, and came back with wondrous
things to show their village.

The people’s murmurs became
louder until a Lalock said, “Be quiet! I want to listen to what Zen
has to say.”

When everyone was quiet,
Zen stepped forward. “I will show you one more thing, but first, I
want to point out to you what you already know. This fire has been
a Fire of Death. This fire is the awful place in which many of you
have had your sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers,
and friends burned to death. Let us extinguish this Fire of Death
forever, and start with three new fires. These new fires will not
be fires of vengeance, fear, and death. They will be fires of love,
light, and life.

“
First we shall start three
new fires, and then I’ll give each cave a firestone and show you
how to make your own fire. You will no longer be required to keep a
fire going. You can make a new fire anytime you want
one.”

Zen called for three of the
fathers to step forward. He had already shown them how to start
fire the new way. They had rehearsed what they would say and do.
Zen gave each man a firestone and asked them to dedicate his fire
to the new ideals. One by one, they stepped to the piles of wood
they had prepared in advance. One by one, they struck their
firestones and began a new fire.

The first one said, “I
dedicate this fire to
love
. The kind of love a man feels
for a woman, the kind of love he feels for his family, the kind of
love he feels for his village, and the kind of love he feels for
his fellow man.”

The second man said as he
lit his fire, “I dedicate this fire to
light
, the light that lights our way,
and the light of knowledge that will shine upon the dark spots of
ignorance, superstition, and fear. These things have been put in
our minds by evil men, who have controlled us with their greedy
lies. Let’s be rid of that.”

The third said, “I dedicate
my fire to
life
, a
life free of fear. A life in which a man and his family can live in
peace, prosperity, and happiness. I pledge this fire to the great
Giver of Life—the one from which all life comes and to which all
life goes.”

A roar of approval came
from the audience.

“
Now,” Zen said, “shall we
extinguish this evil Fire of Death forever?”

“
Yes!” they all
exclaimed.

“
Then let us pledge that no
man, woman or child shall ever again be sacrificed to
Fire.”

In unison, they shouted
back, “We so pledge.”

“
Then let us say farewell
to this evil God forever!” Zen waved his sword over the audience
and a deluge of water poured onto the ceremonial fire. The fire
hissed and smoked, steam rose from it, and then the fire died a
final death. Everyone stood up and cheered. The strain of years of
brainwashing had come to an end, and the people felt a great
relief.

The village had made its
way through the Valley of Mist in their minds. They had overcome
their fear of a false God, so they were free to look for a better
way.

A man called Ome stood and
asked, “What are we going to do now? We must have a
God.”

Another man asked, “Why
must we have a God?”

Ome replied, “In every
person’s life, a time comes when all hope is gone. Every person
needs something to believe in and something to look forward to when
there is nothing else. Where there is no hope, there is
despair.”

Dant, the father of Ren,
said, “I agree with Ome; we must have a God, and we must have rules
to live by. Without rules, we would have disagreements and
confusion.”

Ren was disappointed that
he did not get to vent his anger at the High Priest. He stepped to
the front of the stage and asked, “What are we going to do about
the priests and their soldiers? They have caused pain for the
people. We cannot just let them go. They might band together and
take over again. We must deal with them.”

“
These are all good
questions and comments,” Zen said. "I think the Lalocks can find
solutions to all the questions, but you must do it together, after
you have discussed the problems and decided what the best way is to
handle each and every problem.”

Zen continued, “After we
got through the Valley of Mist, we floated on down the river and
came to a village by a great body of water. There, we found a
village of happy people. They had chosen a man from their village
to be their leader. Perhaps you can do the same. I suggest that you
go back to your caves, talk to your friends and think about what
has happened here tonight. We will return here tomorrow morning and
begin solving some of these problems.”

“
We have six men,” Jok
said. “We need four more to help us guard the priests. Tomorrow,
when the sun has reached the halfway point in its climb into the
sky, we will meet again and decide what to do with
them.”

Four men stepped forward
and said, “We will help guard the priests.”

Zen said to his father,
“Would you and Berk go to the cave where the women are waiting and
tell them that everything is all right, that Jok and I will not be
back tonight, but we’ll see them tomorrow when we all meet here to
discuss what to do about the priests?”

“
Yes, we’ll let the women
know, and we’ll see you tomorrow. Guard the priests well. They’ll
try to escape.”

“
We’ll guard them well, and
they will
not
escape,” assured the guards.

***

When Lela and the others
arrived at the ceremonial cave the next morning, people had already
gathered in small groups and were talking excitedly. Zen walked
onto the stage and called out, “Jok, Cam, and Ren, please stand by
my side.”

They had helped guard the
priests and soldiers all night, but they stood beside Zen while
other men guarded the prisoners. Zen spoke loudly and asked
everyone to gather around and listen. When everyone was seated, he
said, “We want everyone to have an opportunity to speak, because we
have decisions to make. We must decide what to do with the
soldiers, the priests, and the priestesses. Each of them has done
things that were hurtful, but they were born into families of our
village. Their families have a right to speak in their defense….
First, we will bring forth the priestesses. Jok, please ask the
first one to step forward.”

A beautiful young woman
walked nervously before them. Pen was the name her mother and
father had given her, and that is what she was called.

Zen asked, “Who will tell
us of the wrongs done by this woman?”

A woman stood. Zen said,
“Speak.”

“
She is not married to a
priest, yet she has entertained them and slept with them. She is as
guilty as they are for deceiving us. I say burn her.”

“
No, no,” Pen’s parents
yelled plaintively.

Ome, a strong and stately
man with a kind face, said, “It was decided last night that we
would never again sacrifice people to the Fire. That was our first
law. We cannot sacrifice her to the Fire. We cannot rely upon Fire
to make judgments for us. We must decide her innocence or guilt. We
can no longer leave that to the Fire God because we know that Fire
is not God. Let her speak for herself.”

He turned to Pen. “Pen,
will you tell us why you became a temple priestess?”

“
I did it because I thought
I was serving God.”

Zen said, “She was fooled
by the priests the same as we were. I say we should take her back
into our village and help her become a useful member.”

A loud and heated argument
began. Some thought she should be punished, and some thought she
should be forgiven. Zen gave each a chance to be heard, and then
with a show of hands, it was determined that Pen should be taken
back into the village. Her mother and father welcomed her
warmly.

The judging continued
throughout the morning until all of the priestesses and soldiers
had been judged. All but two were taken back into the clan—the
crimes of those two were so bad that the people denied their
reentry into the clan. They decided to banish them, but not into
the Valley of Death; they were banished from the clan
forever.