"Take the First-Herb, Karsaan. Open your Eye. Feel the chills, feel the soul, feel your history."
The Guide's words echoed and bounced off of invisible walls, shifting and warbling like Karsaan was hearing her speak underwater.
But he hadn't moved. He was still seated on his knees with his heels digging into his butt. To his left and right, dozens of other students did the same. Only now, they didn't move. They sat, staring off into the jungles surrounding them.
His best friend sat next to him, Adaiyo. He was as large as always. A rhinoceros in human skin. He was always talking-- always joking and looking for food and work. Now, he was a statue.
Karsaan tried to speak but no words came.
The shadows in the jungle twisted and tweaked. The sky and clouds swelled and shrank like a living breathing organ apart of some greater mold.
"Take the First-Herb, Karsaan. Open your Eye..." The Guides words came again, only this time, focusing on the first two commands. Reminding him. In that same twisting transient tone.
"Open your Eye..."
Karsaan took a deep breath to calm himself. The clouds and iroko trees moved with his rising chest. He opened his Eye by closing his eyes. The physical eyes.
The world magnified.
The trees burst with energy reflected from the sun. Twisting spirals of green and orange light flowed like flames. The shadows illuminated and took the shapes of beasts in their most natural habitat.
The daylight sky became intermixed with night, causing the blues and oranges to swirl and dance with shades of navy and purple.
It was breathtaking.
"This is it. This is what it's like to awaken the Eye of the Ancestors..." Karsaan was in awe-- as if he hadn't heard it all from his brother and sister a dozen times.
"Drink from the stream." The Guide called to them.
Karsaan-- and all the others seated at the river, leaned forward and placed their faces into the water, sipping from the stream as directed.
The water was so cold it burned. It ran down Karsaan's throat and set his insides into a shivering blaze. The taste was unbelievably foul. Like something rotten and fishy and burnt. He tried to spit it up, but it was like he had no mouth.
Once again, he took a breath to calm himself.
Once again, the Guide spoke.
"Focus your Eye into the jungle beyond. Await their arrival."
The good part. Karsaan couldn't contain his excitement. He knew this part well thanks to his older siblings.
They'd taken the First-Herb, one of the four Divine Materials on the continent of Nubiye. With it, they'd stepped past the Physical world and into the Many-Worlds, a blurred mixture of the Four Worlds. By doing this, it would be easier for Karsaan and the other young warriors coming of age to awaken the Eye of the Ancestors and Gaze upon a Beast.
This would start the process of forming a Bond, which is what they'd need to succeed in the ceremony starting tomorrow.
Beasts were perceptive. More so than man. They knew who they'd chose, they just needed to present themselves for Karsaan and the rest to see it as well.
He waited.
In his peripherals, he could see beasts approach, standing on the other side of the river, across from specific people.
Great horned beasts, berry-juice painted apes wearing bark armors, speedy terror birds.
Karsaan could've sworn he'd seen one of every kind. Some things he didn't even know the name of.
He turned back to face what awaited him across the river.
Nothing but darkness.
No special serpents in the grass. No great winged titans in the twisting sky. No stealthy felines in the trees between.
His stomach sank as he looked around again. He was the only one. There were beasts everywhere except where he was.
It felt like he stood staring in the dark jungles forever, still tasting the awful river waters, growing sick from it.
Then the drums came.
Boom—boom….boom-boom…..Boom—boom….boom-boom…
Each double-beat washed away more of the Many-Worlds and pushed them back firmly into the Physical World.
Karsaan blinked and found himself back under plain sunlight around familiar faces.
"Welcome back, students." The Guide said from behind them.
She was an incredibly tall woman with thin lanky limbs. He'd never seen her face. Guides were special individuals. Shown by the bone masks they wore that signified their connection to the spirits and history.
Not that it mattered.
Karsaan wasn't connected or bonded to a thing.
Suddenly that didn't matter either as nearly everyone threw up into the grass.
"Gods watching…. Sacred Beasts Awaiting…." The Guide mumbled in disbeleif as she removed her mask, revealing she had the eyes of a snake.
Karsaan looked back to the students. His friends and family.
More so, he looked at the contents of their puke. Over half of them did.
Pieces of rotting dead fish sat in the black sludge.
"Guide? What does it mean?" A few nearby Warrior Class Tribesmen standing by asked.
The Guide was silent.
And for a moment, Karsaan forgot he wasn't chosen by a beast.
For a moment, it looked like everyone else was cursed.