Chapter 8

 “Laong, Laaaaonggg!” the shrill voice of an angry man broke the peaceful morning air, “Laaooong! Work dodger! Day dreamer! If you don´t show up the landing in no time you have to stay hungry the next three days! The village does not feed a good-for-nothing!” and the angry voice of an old man railed, “You are a shame for the village! Only the badger in his borrow is more rotten!”

“Why do you rail against Laong? Is he that bad?” Tsemo asked the wife of the village headman when they came to her house to bid goodbye and collected the locked up weapons.

“Great Master! Venerable Shaman!” the fat-bellied woman bowed her head respectfully, “You don´t know, but Laong is a day dreamer! He likes is to collect strange objects, rare plants and shiny stones, feathers and bones, but he does not like to do work like boys of his age. He even makes up stories and tells them to the small kids! Stories of fairies and wise men! Sometimes he even scares the small one with the stories! But they love him.” she thought for a while, “He is born here but he seems to belong to another world.” Then shrugging her shoulders “He never will become a fisherman or hunter! No! Therefore my husband calls him a good-for-nothing!”

“But he may be good for other things, like healing people and animals or foretelling the future or he may become a bard.” Tsemo countered.

But she just laughed, “Venerable Master! Laong a healer? Laong a shaman? Don´t daydream yourself stranger! He will never become the gifted healer you are!” then she turned, “Daughter, daughter, the young shaman with his friends is here! Give thanks to him! It was the first night she could sleep through without being kept awake by her crying baby son!”

She ushered the companion into the kitchen, “My daughter and the other young mothers prepared a farewell meal for you and your friends! The men are out fishing, up the Bredd-ström!”

Full of food and light-headed by the consumption of a sugary beverage the three companions staggered to the landing, accompanied by young and old, with exception of the men out for fishing. Wishing the women goodbye was fun, because every single of the young mothers wanted to express their gratitude for a peaceful night with a big hug and a long kiss. The little girls who were watching their big sisters jealously and nearly piddled their legs with excitement. Embarking wasn’t as easy, especially for Tsemo, who never had tasted a strong brew like this before. The staggering shaman needed Buri´s helping hand. His strong dark companion seized him and put him on his seat in the dugout. Singing and laughing the three left the villagers waving farewell.

The fresh breeze on the river soon cleared the brains of Aegir and Buri while Tsemo’s head was throbbing. “Close the eyes, we will wake you up as soon the Isle of the Three Trees comes in sight. The boat passed five isles and the name seemed to fit nearly every one of them because all were wooded. But at none of them there saw a sign of Laong or of his boat. They already thought the boy had foxed them, when a strung-out, barren isle appeared to the left. It looked more like a sandbank than an island. On its utmost tip however three old trees stretched their branches to heaven and there was Laong, waving and bouncing up and down, “Hey! Here I am! Here! Come over! Pick me up!” Laong jumped up and down and danced for joy!

Buri transferred the small luggage of Laong on board of the dugout and tucked it under the cover. Then Aegir fastened Laong small boat to the big dugout. “We will leave it at the place we stay to night. Your people will find soon enough and take it back!” he predicted, while Laong settled down besides Tsemo.

The presence of Laong cleared Tsemo head immediately. He beamed with joy and his cheerfulness and excitement infected the others. Chatting animated they steered the boat back into the main current of the river and went off like on a honeymoon trip.

~.~.~

The day was hot for a day in spring and the evening sun promised a mild night. When they passed along a wooded island Aegir decided on impulse to spend the night here. “It’s uninhabited, we could stay here and enjoy a night far away from nosy contemporaries.” he suggested, “Someone against it?” He didn’t wait for an answer and put the dugout on land at the very tip of the island.

“Look the trees up there,” Buri pointed to a group of willows topping highest point, “that’s the right place! At least a sudden flood will not wash us downstream.”

When ducks took wings, Aegir took his bow, “Who comes along, I am starving for meat!” looking around he commanded, “Laong come along that’s your chance to proof your qualities as a hunter!” Aegir did not only want to check the new crew member’s hunting skill; his hidden motive was something else.

Buri and Tsemo pulled the boat ashore and immediately began to carry their belongings to the small wood. The small clearing between the tress was not used for the first time for camping. A circle of cobblestones surrounded by logs marked a fireplace and an open shed offered a dry place for the night. The shrubs along edges of the wood were dense enough to conceal the presence of visitors even if a fire was burning.

While Buri and Tsemo set up the camp and started a fire, Aegir and Laong were stealing through the undergrowth along the reed belt at the water. Laong was quick, but no as experienced as Aegir. Nonetheless he was luckier than the red-head getting a male duck with his first arrow. When the ducks settled down again Aegir got another one. On their way back Laong got a third bird. Slowing down Aegir suddenly asked, “What do you know about shamans? Have you ever wondered why shamans are viewed as special class of people?”

“They are healers, they know all about animals and plants, about the stars, the moon and the sun, about the living and dead, they know all the about the realm of gods!”

“Is that all?”

“No, they can foresee the future and are able to talk with the dead! They can do miracles!”

“All this may be true or folks assume that to be true! But that’s not all. That’s not the point I am thinking of at the moment!”

Laong stood riveted to the spot. Even in the last light of the day Aegir recognized the amazement of the adolescent.

“What happens to the dead? Not the warriors, the great heroes, the bad ones, the one who cheated their friends, the one who murdered their neighbour, robbed strangers, killed strangers, the one cuckold, molested the young ones? What happens to bad peoples?

“They go to a place called underworld. The cold, murky place ruled by Halja, the daughter of Loki and the gigantic Angrboda!”

“You know a lot for a village boy! But where do the simple, the honest, the good people live after death?”

“They walk on green pastures in the paradise! They are happy all the time and they lack nothing!”

“Right again! But what is about the great heroes, the ones who died for their friends, for their people?”

“They go to Valhöll! The place ruled by Wuitan and his spouse Frija! They live in clover! During the day the heroes duel each other and in the evening they get drunk on mead!”

“Right again! You know much more than I did in your age! But what happens to the shamans after they die? Has anybody told you?”

“Do they also walk the green pastures? Do they go to Valhöll?” Laong asked “I never thought about will happen to a shaman after he died!”

Aegir put his arm around Laong, “Have you ever heard about reincarnation? Has anybody told you that shamans are reborn after they have died? They obtain a new body. Their old body decays but their spirit drifts through space and time till it finds a new body! The spirit settles down in the new body and a new shaman is born!”

“Is this really the case? I can’t belief what you just told! Is it a secret of the shamans never told to outsiders? Is Tsemo the incarnation of a shaman whose body has decayed? Who had he been before?”

“Tsemo is! I am positive! But I do not know the name of his former body!”

Then Aegir shrugged conspiratorially, “Don´t tell it to Tsemo, it’s a secret Buri has to reveal it to our young shaman by himself.” He bowed down to the youngster and whispered into his year, “Buri is also a reborn! I even know the identity of his former existence!” Showing his pride, “You will never guess: Buri is the reincarnation of the mighty Geb, the god of the fertile earth and barren desert! It’s a God people worship in the land Buri was born, a land far in the South, the land of our destination”

Laong kept silent for a long time. When Aegir asked, “Don’t you believe me?” Laong shook his head, “No, no I belief you! But I ponder another question! Do you think I am reborn also? Do you think that the spirit of a deceased shaman has invaded my body when I was in my mother’s womb?” and after a while ha added scarcely audible, “Do you think that it was the spirit of a female shaman?”

“If your destiny is to become a shaman and not just the wish of vain boy, then you are a reborn also!” then Aegir paused. He didn’t know how to continue without to offend the Laong, who still was a boy. But the he decided to take the direct approach and asked “Laong, tell me why do you think you have been a woman in your former live?”

Darkness had fallen and Laong felt relieved that clouds covered the moon, because his face turned crimson and his scar beet-red! The darkness made it easier to disclose his secret. “Ever since….” then he paused and started again, talking his head off, “I never was interested in girls. I like girls. As a small kid I liked to play with girls, but now I only play with boys. On the beach I never did spy on girls like the other boys did, I never did spy on girls when they went for a pee. I like to look at boys. When I am dreaming, I am dreaming of a boy and I imagine being with a boy when I fiddle with my wood. The other boys laugh at me because I do not have a girlfriend. When I asked Gru, the chieftain’s son, to be my boyfriend he hit me in the face.” Suddenly he started to sob uncontrollably, “That’s why I have the scar in my face!”

Being hit by this confession Aegir kept silent at first, but when the sobbing youngster tried to run away into the dark, he held him back, “Don´t run away, silly boy! Don’t you know that shamans are neither male nor female? They belong to another kind of beings. They possess the qualities of both, of a man and a woman.” He hugged Laong, “I also have to tell you a secret, our secret! Buri is my dream-boy! The first time I dreamed of Buri I was just six. And I had to wait for Buri, my Curly-head, till I was a man. Since that time we are one heart and one soul!”

On the way back to the camp by the small wood on the hill, he advised the troubled boy. “Wipe off your tears, Laong! Tsemo is waiting! I bet you don’t want to meet your teacher with eyes red from crying!”

~.~.~

The ducks had been plucked, eviscerated, generously seasoned and now were they were broiling over a low fire. On his return Laong remained silent. Even the approval for his hunting skill didn’t bring him out of his shell. While Aegir took his place besides Buri, Laong had to sit down at the side of Tsemo. The small shaman did his best to cheer him up by telling stories of his time as a novice. Meanwhile Laong agonized over the question if he should open up to Tsemo and Buri too, but he was too anxious after his bad experience with Gru, the village boy.

Tsemo on the other hand was not sure either what to do. Spooning with Laong the night before had mad him so happy and all he hoped for was that this was the beginning of a tight relationship maybe even love.

Aegir guessing the conflict of Tsemo and Laong didn’t want to interfere by words. After the fire had nearly died down he decided to set a good example. He turned to Buri, took his head with both hands and kissed him. Then he announced, “That was a great day, a successful day! This morning I thought we got a nosy inexperience boy to complete our crew. Tonight however I am sure that Laong is the fourth man of our crew, the crew of the sun seekers.”

He took Buri´s hand and together they walked over to Tsemo and Laong and hugged them. “Buri and I will walk down to the sandy bank and enjoy our friendship. You should do the same! Listen to the song of the Bredd-ström, the noise of the wind in the trees, the rustling of animals in the last years leaves, to the song of the nightingale and breathe the sweet smell the first violets. Good night boys!”

Tsemo and Laong made their bed in the hay of the shelter. Crawling under the furs the Laong suddenly withdrew to the very end of the cover, away from the young shaman. “It’s your fur Laong! Please come closer. Let’s huddle up like we did last night! I need a friend, someone to warm me in cold nights, someone to make me forget the past!” A little later Tsemo felt Laong’s warm arms around his body and a breaking voice asked, “Do you really, really want me as a friend?”

Next morning when Aegir found the two still in a tight embrace the scar on Laong’s cheek was just a faint scratch. When he asked, “What happened to the deep scar?” Laong laughed happily, “It’s gone. Tsemo, the healer did it!” and his voice sounded soft and sonorously like the one of a young man and not of a boy anymore.

~.~.~