The Moon Worshippers
wooded hills and gathered some mushrooms. He sat by a pool in the woods and ate them. He looked deeply into the pool.
    For sometime nothing happened. Then the pool became darker and the light filtering through the trees changed into intense colours, brighter than anything he had ever seen. The waters of the pool suddenly cleared. The first thing he saw was the warrior he had killed. He came out of the cloudy pool, a white cloudy, misty image, with opened arms that passed over his head. The next image was more menacing. At first he could not make it out. Only the hands were clear, with long, thin fingers and curved sharp nails, clawing at his face. Then he saw the silver jewellery on the wrists: those silver bracelets of exquisite craftsmanship worn only by the Sisters of the Moon. It was an evil of a kind he had never experienced. He came round in a sweat. At the end of the week he told Aguirre that he had to return to his mother. Aguirre made no comment. He had noticed a change in the boy. He had a mysticism about him that he had only seen in the faces of deeply religious men or women. At fourteen he was now a man. The year was 772 AD.
    It took Inaki a lunar month to return home. As he passed through the villages, he found them alive with rumours. The world around them was covered with dark and gathering clouds. To the west all the talk was of impending war. To the east the rumours of Charlemagne’s intention to invade remained uppermost in men’s minds. The clans of the Basque country remained peaceful and tranquil, but people were in a state of high alert and extremely vigilant. There was fear, also, of the unknown.
    As he entered the small community of farms, people hardly recognised him. He had changed so much. If it had not been for Storm it would have been hard for them to recognise him at all. The man that entered their lives again, was a stranger. The change had been so marked. However, anyone that had ever known Storm never forgot him. His mother, seeing him at a distance, wondered for a moment and then ran to greet him. She hugged him. Then she looked deeply into his face. She saw his father there, and remembered the pain. How he had grown! Taking him by the hand she led him inside his uncle’s house, sat him down and put out some food.
    She said: “Tell me everything.”
    Between mouthfuls, he related all that had happened. When he talked of Storm his eyes glowed with pride. He passed lightly over the events of the raid and didn’t speak of the pool, not wanting to worry his mother. At that moment a form filled the doorway. Storm stood and growled.
    “I see the monster’s back,” a voice said.
    Inaki was not sure if his uncle was referring to him or Storm, or both.
    “Where have you been for such a long time?” said the old man gruffly.
    “Let him eat and rest, there will be plenty of time for questions later,” his mother said.
    The old man turned sharply and left without another word. The authority of the mother was unquestionable in a Basque family. Although the men held the position of head of the house, it was the women who held the real power. In Basque society women played an important part in governing the family. Inaki inwardly smiled to himself. It was a little like the social order of wolves. The women were dominant. The two social systems were not dissimilar.
    The Basques were an inter-related group of people from common ancestral stock. Each family formed part of a clan and while some lived in villages, many lived in solitary homes in the mountains. However, they shared a common name. Once a man or woman gave their name, a Basque knew immediately which village, area or clan that person belonged to. In most cases he or she would know personally some of its members. Inaki’s family name was, on his mother’s side, Etxebarria. This made him a Guipuzcoan, the largest of the seven Basque clans. In this way, Basques were bound one to another and shared commonly held rights and duties.

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