It was midnight. There was thunder and lightning - a rainstorm and a cry, "eeeh-ama!!!," from a tiny little boy covered in mud.

That was the creation of our main character named Atum by the mysterious witch named Myzthra.

See, this story takes place during a time waaay before ours. Before we even had a word for technology or our "modern era." When everyone still believed in gods and magic. When monsters and magical beasts still roamed the earth.

After Myzthra, the mysterious witch created Atum, she shape-shifted into a black swan and flew to the moon, never to be seen or heard of again.

Atum was a boy who had to grow into a man. Thankfully, he had the help of the Spirit Animals. The Wolf, the Eagle, the Lion and the Snake.

The Wolf, who was also known as man's best friend, took Atum as one of her cubs. The Eagle was always watching the young boy from above. The Lion was king of the jungle and judged the boy and all the animals in his kingdom when needed. The Snake stalked and observed the boy's every actions.

Now, Atum didn't speak, at least not like we do today. But when he wasn't speaking he was listening. He was a very observant boy. He looked in awe at the starry night sky. He wondered at his reflection in the water. He even counted his fingers and studied his hands.

Atum made friends with all the animals in the jungle. You see, it was forbidden to harm the boy. Until one tragic day he made enemies with the snake.

One fateful day, Atum caught a snake trespassing into a wolf's den full of wolf cubs. Atum panicked and thought that the snake was going to harm one of the cubs. So he chased the snake into a hole with his stick. He kept poking the hole until it crushed the snake. The snake, tired of being poked by the boy, finally crawled out. To make things worse, Atum made a sharp tool and cut off the snakes head.

Now, this angered the Snake clan to the point where they plotted to get revenge on the boy Atum...

To be continued...



© Ragian Azariah