Chapter 47: Mother of six
Mira’s first instinct was to run. Flee. Vanish. Disappear. Bolt. Whatever you would call it but no way on earth would she go there. This looked shady. It was nighttime and the music stopped. The crowd was dead silent and all eyes rested on her.
Mira took a careful look at Jia Hao who returned it with a smile. She swallowed. Why the heck was he smiling? Did that shaman want to burn her?
Was this some kind of sacrifice?? Mira had so many questions but knew this was not the place nor time to ask.
She shook her head. "I am perfectly fine here." Mira waved both her hands in front of her, discarding his welcome with a chuckle.
No one laughed. Their eyes were just plastered on her, waiting for her to take a step forward.
I will NOT be a sacrifice! She said to herself. Mira stayed put on the throne.
"Love, this is where you go and meet him." Jia Hao whispered to her.
"So he burns me? I thought you love me, Jia Hao, that man wants to sacrifice me on the altar like that bird." She charged at him in an equal whisper.
Jia Hao chuckled. He almost laughed out loud. "He just needs your hand."
That was even worse. "He wants to cut off my hand?" Mira gasped.
Jia Hao almost lost it. This woman made it so hard for him to withdraw his laughter. "He needs you to go to the altar so he can take your reading through your hand." Jia Hao said.
Oh. Ohh. Then why did he hold a torch first? That was so confusing, Mira questioned in her mind. She stood. "If anything happens to me-" she began.
"Nothing will." Jia Hao assured. Mira swallowed. There was no rule book on what usually happened when someone gave birth to an heir, that had not happened in ages and the old Mira never read old manuscripts on cave walls for this Mira to tap into.
Mira made her way forward, still careful of her environment. When she was in front of the shaman, he swung his body to the side. Now he danced in front of her, swinging the torch in sync to his movement. Mira stayed still. On earth, they would call him mental.
The shaman stopped his dancing and stood in front of Mira. "Give me your hand." He said. She listened and stretched out her hand. He handed the torch to a disciple nearby then held Mira’s hand, tracing and feeling it like someone checking the tenderness of raw meat.
The shaman reached for Mira’s hair and plucked a strand. He placed it on top of the dove.
"The chord." He called. Another disciple walked to him with a wooden bowl covered with leaves. The shaman took the leaves off. Mira’s eyes widened. It was her umbilical chord. What the heck?
The shaman took her umbilical chord. He held the chord which connected to the six babies up for all to see. There was an outrage of cheer. All the beast people went crazy when they saw it.
This was all so strange for Mira but it seemed like a custom to them. A custom even the old Mira did not know.
Why was that girl so foolish of these things? It made life harder for me, Mira complained in her head.
"Lion King Jia Hao, please make your way forward." The shaman said after returning the chord into the bowl. Jia Hao stepped forward and stayed by Mira’s side. He stretched his hand forward before the shaman asked and the shaman did the exact same thing he did with Mira to him.
He placed Jia Hao’s hair by her plucked out hair and then put the chord on top. Now he took the torch from the disciple who had it and chanted.
Drumming began. Gentle coordinated drumming as the shaman chanted. Mira looked so confused yet every other person was so keen on this that she shut up and watched. The shaman brought the torch to the dead bird, her chord, both their hairs and the six bowls which contained the dove’s blood and burned it.
Smoke erupted immediately. It went upwards in a disorganised straight path to the sky.
Something happened afterwards. The smoke began to assume a different shade. Red. Orange. White. Pale yellow and brown. It swirled upwards in a double helix then dispersed outwards.
The shaman signalled his hand forward at the direction his disciples were. They walked to him, holding all six of Mira’s children.
"Don’t call out their names yet." Jia Hao said to the shaman. "My wife and I are still very indecisive about it."
The shaman nodded slightly in agreement. He and his disciples walked to the edge of the hill with him in front of them.
"They are true borns of the lion king and his rightful mate." The shaman announced. Another uproar filled the air. "The lion clan has been saved for six generations of extinction with a miracle of six rightful heirs." The uproar increased at the shaman’s words.
What sounded like a thunderous explosion boomed out the mouths of these people as they danced and stamped their feet on the ground in recognition and acceptance.
Now, the shaman walked to his disciples and took the children in the order of which they were born. "The first child and first born son of the lion king!" He announced.
The drummers hit the bamboo pipes so loudly at the announcement.
"The second child and second born son of the lion king!"
"The third and the third born son of the lion king!"
Mira frowned at the announcement as each of her children were displayed for all to see. These children came out from her, the shaman should give her some credit. What happened to saying ’the so so born child of the lion king and his mate’?
"The fourth child and the fourth born son of the lion king!"
The shaman held a hand up when he returned the fourth cub. Now, everywhere went silent. He made his way to Mira’s fifth child, took the cub so gently in his hand and held the cub up. He walked back in front of the disciples. "The fifth born and the first born daughter of the lion king!"
The crowd went crazy. Crazier than they did with her sons. A female heiress in a time like this was like rain in a desert.
Now, the shaman went to her sixth born, he held the cub in the same tender manner as he did her fifth and showcased her to the crowd. "The last and the sixth child. The second born daughter of the lion king. All true borns of the lion clan."
The uproar continued.
"All hail the mother of the tribe." The shaman said.
"ALL HAIL THE MOTHER OF THE TRIBE!!" Everyone else chanted.
"All hail the mother of the tribe!" The shaman said again.
A chorus of his words echoed in the pride. Everyone was hailing her. Hailing THE demon of the forest.
Mira could not grasp it. It bewildered her.
[Congratulations, host!
For the safe delivery of six true born babies of the lion clan, you have been rewarded with 600,000 system points! 100,000 system points for each child.
Other rewards for saving the lion clan from extinction included unlocking of three special grade skills and getting any thing you want from earth at a free price!
Current points balance: 602,010!]
"See? I told you everything would be okay." Jia Hao said and glued to her side.
Mira nodded. "Yes. You did." She rested her head on his chest as she scanned the environment. Her eyes trailed to a side where the drummers were. Mira’s brows furrowed. That shadow. She saw it again. The same feminine structure of a female with shorts hair and tail. And this time, it did not vanish.