Page 59 of Tiger's Tale
“When exactly did you take on this role for yourself?” Danik asked.
Matriova was quiet for a moment. “I don’t count years like most people do. But I have seen many of my children marry, grow old, and join the sky people. I’ve seen thousands of nights, season upon season. I lingered only because I was waiting for a daughter who was special. One who I felt was ready to carry the burden. It is not an easy thing to wear a tiger token—one of those special charms, as you called them.”
“Is that why Iriko is banished? The tiger needed to be passed to a female?”
“No. That is not the reason. And no, the charms have been worn by men in the past, but in my tribe, it has always been passed traditionally to females. As I was saying... it is not an easy thing to wear a token. They are special.
“In fact, they are pieces of a very powerful emblem or seal. When combined, they give the person who holds it power to change the world. A long, long time ago, the pieces were contained within our borders, or so the legend goes. Over time, they disappeared, one by one. Lost to the ages. It is one of the reasons our peoples venerate the tiger. To destroy one results in one of the worst of all punishments.”
Zakhar interrupted, “Let me understand: When you wore a tiger token, or a piece of this tiger emblem, you could change back and forth into a tiger at will?”
“Yes. But to do so required me to pass a test.”
“What sort of test?” Nik asked.
“The test is different for each person. For some it is a test of bravery. For others a test of knowledge. The tiger must deem you worthy.”
“What happens to you if you fail the test? Do you not become a tiger? Or can you not change back?”
“It is not that simple. Your tigers, your tsarevnas, haven’t even begun their trials yet. With the Evenki, we choose our candidates very, very carefully. Never, to my knowledge, has an aspirant failed a test, though it has taken some longer to access their full abilities than others.”
Nik spoke up. “You said you selected your daughter to replace you, yet here you are. And your son is the tiger, not your daughter, so what happened? Did she fail the test?”
“No. Baikali did not fail. She was halfway finished with her first year wearing the tiger token when the terrible accident happened. The reindeer were just coming into their winter coats, and the leaves were kissed with fire but hadn’t yet fallen, and my son Iriko wanted to fish. He was a boastful, proud, fractious boy and prone to thinking his mother’s advice and counsel were about control and not about keeping him safe.
“He loved ice fishing, and that year the ice came early. I warned him that it wasn’t safe, and he needed to wait for it to harden before he tried it. He told me he would obey, but one morning I woke to find his favorite pole missing. I sent Baikali out to find him since she could scent his path and bring him home. She discovered her brother easily enough, but when she went out on the ice to confront him, she was still in tiger form. Baikali was much too heavy for the ice, and it cracked. Both of them went under.
“With the tiger token, she would have survived, but she was determined to save Iriko. She switched to her human form and held on to him, swimming for an opening. He was only a boy of twelve back then. He clung to her desperately, clawing at her neck and clothing, not realizing that in his desperation, he tore the token from her body.
“Baikali managed to thrust him up through an opening, but she was swept away beneath the ice. Iriko returned to us many hours later, clutching the token in his hand. We found my daughter’s poor broken form two days later when the ice melted. She’d drowned, her body bruised, turgid, and pale. We buried my beautiful daughter with her feet pointed east so she could watch the sun rise every morning. It was a tragic death, and though I knew the boy was young, I blamed him for killing our hope. For destroying my vision for the future with his thoughtlessness.
“Ashamed by having caused the death of his sister, especially knowing how important she had been to the Evenki, which I had made abundantly clear to him, Iriko sunk into despair. He tried to beg forgiveness from me and the people, but there was no way for him to make restitution for what he’d done. There are some things that, once broken, are gone forever.
“Iriko tried to return the tiger token to me, but no longer would the tiger recognize me as its companion. Instead, it bonded to Iriko, but Iriko, in his shame and misery, defied the tiger spirit. His soul grew bitter and dark, and he refused any attempts the tiger token gave as a test. Since he was determined to defy the tiger, turning a blind eye to its call, his own eyes grew dim. Soon his demeanor proved too volatile for the people, and he was banished.
“I regretted my harsh treatment of him then, but I didn’t see any other way to remedy the situation. The people wanted him gone. They considered him bad luck. A wanderer who brought only wickedness and vengeance. I had no choice but to do as they asked, as much as it broke my heart. So you see, not only did I lose my daughter but I lost my son as well. And the people lost the gift of magic they’d relied upon for centuries.
“It was a tragedy unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Until now, the magic Iriko possessed was the last hope for our people. I’d feared it was gone from our lands forever. But perhaps all is not as I thought. Perhaps the magic has found its own way to return. Maybe I was too hasty, too quick to judge. Maybe there is still something left for me to learn before I join the sky people.”
Zakhar had been scratching furiously with his quill, only stopping long enough to dip it in the inkpot held by Danik, but now he paused. “I think there is never an end to one’s learning,” he said. “Perhaps even after we join the sky people there is more to be learned. Don’t you agree?”
Matriova snorted. “I thought you men of the church believed only in heaven and hell. Are you trying to say you now believe you may have a place among our sky people instead?”
Tilting his head, Zakhar blinked rapidly. Whether that was due to deep reflection or bits of sleet disturbing his vision, Danik couldn’t be certain. Zakhar finally answered, “To my way of thinking, though the stories of our origins on this world differ, there are basic fundamentals in common enough to ascertain certain things that ring true across cultures.
“Those who treat their fellow man with goodness and kindness, who value life and live in such a way that they leave behind more than they take, people who edify and teach the young, passing on their wisdom and values, will, when they depart this world, return to the bosom of their creator, living in a condition that is typically defined as a place of peace and joy.
“In that sense, yes, when my time here is finished, I would hope I have contributed enough and sacrificed enough for others to have earned a position with my creator. I am content in the knowledge that a being powerful enough to bring life and such diverse beauty and wonder to this world is perfectly capable of revealing to us our role or further wisdom should we have need of it. I see no point in foisting my personal theories on others since that’s all they are at present—theories. Though I do admit, I am committed to the study of God and His law.”
“You are a strange priest, indeed, young man. But I... hear wisdom in your words. I will ponder them further myself and perhaps... I will amend my policy of speaking to men of the cloth in your case.”
Zakhar lowered his head. “I am honored and look forward to such a day, for it is obvious I have much to learn from one such as yourself.”
There was a sudden jerking of the sleigh as the two tigers unexpectedly veered to the north.
Matriova grabbed on to the sleigh’s side to right herself and said, “They must have sensed him!”
Their speed increased, and Zakhar was forced to set aside his paper and stopper his bottle of ink. It was all they could do to hold on. They sped past a large river and then a lake and a second even larger body of water before climbing a series of hills. Then they came to an abrupt stop. The tigers panted hard, and when the passengers stepped out of the sleigh, the laces immediately unwound, and the two tigers collapsed in the snow.
