It was early in the morning when the rays of the sun had just touched the earth. I got up and dressed into simple but colorful robes. Here dyes were rare and thus such colorful yet simple robes were considered luxurious and only reserved for special ceremonies. As I was to be sacrificed to the goddess I had to be at the best of my looks, at least that is what the others said.
I opened the doors and there stood all fifty people in the village. At the forefront was the village chief along with an old woman dressed in colorful robes similar to myself. She was the village 'priest' who oversaw all the rituals happening in this village. Also it was her who was the primary contact of the goddess along with the village chief. She brought the revelation to everyone that I was to be sacrificed to the bunny eared goddess.
"You are ready to meet the goddess." with a nod the priest smiled with satisfaction. She came forward with a book in her hand and pressed that book on top of my head.
"May the sage guide you to the truth." she performed something like a good luck gesture and stepped away.
The book that was put on top of my head was the sole guiding light of morals and ethics in this place. From the inherited knowledge passed around the village it is said that this book is what provided structure for a proper civilization in this area. Once a sage with an unknown origin wandered around these parts and found the ancestors of this village were living in a very primitive manner.
Taking pity on them the sage provided them with two gifts. One was the book and another was the goddess. The sage tapped the book on every ancestor's head which enlightened them with knowledge and wisdom. The goddess was the guardian which would safely allow them to grow.
Today the village can exist safely due to the goddess. The adults in the village are strong enough to defeat all the monsters in the valley. It's beyond the valley where monsters beyond human comprehension exists which are kept beyond only because of the goddess.
All this history was told by the priest to the children when they turn 15. In fact the basic education of literature, history and survival arts were taught only after 15 because after that age every child is required to help share the responsibility along with adults of this village. Every child is assigned to an adult as an assistant for this so that they learn from them and grow into skilled adults.
This method of education was said to come from the book. Due to the miraculous effects of the book on this place once I grew curious and tried to steal the book to read. Unfortunately it was always carried by the priest as if it was glued to her. Using force to steal the book from her was also a pipe dream as the priest who although looked like an innocent old lady was strong enough to beat a wild bear with bare hands. This fact was witnessed by me during an educational trip to the forest under the guidance of the priest where she killed a green bear twice the size of her with a single punch.
"I will escort you to the temple, follow me." the chief interrupted my thoughts and informed me.
As the strongest in the village he was entrusted with the task to deliver me safely to the goddess. The temple mentioned by him was an hour walk from the village. Although not a large distance, to prevent any accidents he was present with me.
While exiting everyone followed me all the way to the gate. Me and the chief enter into the forest to journey towards our destination. While walking, I looked back last time at the only people I knew in this world until the forest consumed my vision.
In approximately an hour we reached our destination. The 'temple' was nothing but a small cave inside of which was a carving of goddess illuminated by a single white glowing pearl. The carving depicted a silhouette of a feminine figure with rabbit ears.
The first time I visited this cave was when I turned 15 along with the other children who turned 15 that year. It was in this cave that we were taught the actual history of the village by the priest.
As the time passed my patience was eroding thin. It didn't help that the subject of the matter on why I was here was slightly depressing, making the atmosphere awkward. I removed my watch to see how long it has been. This 'watch' was a sundial and to see the time I had to go out of the cave. The concept of time and the 'watch' were also credited to the book. Although the smallest unit of time was hours and there was no mention of minutes and seconds.
Sunlight shone through the canopy of leaves outside the caves under which the sundial indicated the current time. It had been half an hour since we had been waiting in the cave.
"What was the time that was mentioned by the goddess?" I asked the chief as he was the only one who knew the contents of her order other than the priest.
"What is the time now?"
"Half to nine"
"Wait until nine. That was when the goddess told us to be present here."
"Alright."
It was only just now that I learnt the time of meeting. This was kept a secret from me so that I wouldn't escape at the last moment.
Growing tired of the silence I try to start a conversation with the old man. He and I didn't talk much and the few times we talked it was about how great of a man my father was. This was because it was my father who saved his life from the attack of a snake.
"Hey chief, don't you want to go beyond these mountains."
"No."
It was a direct answer without hesitation. Just like the other people in the village who gave me the same answer. Even the children weren't somehow curious of what was beyond.
I gave up asking any more questions. Everyone in the village was a bad talker as they only focused on living and surviving nothing more, without any aim and ambitions.
Thus, we just waited patiently in the cave. At sharp nine the voice of goddess echoed.
"Leave the cave Sarak."
A deep female voice reverberated throughout the cave. It was the first time I had heard the voice of the goddess.
'Sarak' was the name of the chief. Her order was the acknowledgment that he had done his job in delivering the 'sacrifice'.
"Good luck."
After saying that to me he exited the cave while bowing towards the carving of the goddess before exiting, leaving me alone in the cave with the hidden goddess.