The Dawn of Day - 10. Chapter 10 - The Dawn of Day

The Aryaka gathered in the meeting place when the sun was low. The place was crowded with people, males, females and children. Individuals placed trays, bowls, plates and cups on tables of various heights. None of them spoke or paid much attention to the others. A few Aryaka glanced at the men but most ignored them completely. The Aryaka sat down on the steps of four medium-sized pyramids that surrounded the place. They were waiting for the Elder who had not yet arrived. Shesha led the humans to the meeting place. They joined Nahusha and Vasuki who had already sat down on a step.

Varyuka entered the place. The Elder went to the tables and examined the food, took a plate and a bowl and sat down on the lowest step of a pyramid. He ate quietly. The Aryaka were watching him. When the Elder had finished his meal, the others rose to their feet and went to the tables. Each individual grabbed something to eat, returned to a pyramid step, not necessarily the former place, and started to eat.

The men followed Shesha to the tables. The food was mostly meat in different forms, minced meat, small balls, flat pieces cooked or roasted. A few bowls contained finger-long green stalks or an unrecognizable yellowish mush.

“What kind of meat is this?” Brandon asked, pointing at a bowl with roasted meat.

“Shesha said the small balls are probably what we like most,” Eric said.

The men each took a cup filled with water and a bowl with meatballs. Dave also grabbed a bowl with green stalks. They returned to a pyramid step.

More individuals went to the tables. Finally, everybody was seated. The Aryaka ate with their fingers and none of them spoke.

A small child entered the place belatedly and hurried to the tables. The young one surrounded the tables and peered into the bowls, but the bowls and plates were either carried away or empty. No one hurried to help the child. The small child searched the tables in vain. Dave watched the scene uncomfortably. The little one finally crossed the place with empty hands and sat down next to Dave. It jerked its little head, then froze and sat like a statue. The other Aryaka were eating silently and did not bother. Dave looked into his bowl and saw two meatballs. He placed the bowl next to the child. The child turned its head, moved its fingers choppily, then seized the bowl and ate rapidly. Dave smiled at the young one, then raised his eyes and met cold Aryaka stares. Dave startled and leaned back.

Varyuka watched him with interest. He made a sign to Shesha and made typing movements with his fingers. Shesha put his bowl down, pulled the translation gadget from a pocket and typed rapidly. He handed the gadget to Eric.

Eric read the text, then turned to Dave and Brandon. “Shesha says they don’t naturally socialize. It’s not in their genes. It’s an ability they must actively learn. They attend to wounded individuals and they care for the very young ones, but the children must soon see to themselves. The Aryaka would never give food to a child that is old enough to collect it from a table. They understand, however, why warm-blood creatures do it and why they socialize. They know that socializing is useful at times, for instance in trade and business or when operating in space. They actively learn in classes to do something together for no special purpose at all. They sing and chatter, play and dance, and do things they have learned from warm-blooded creatures.”

“The class we saw in the morning,” Brandon said. “They were chatting with each other and with the teacher.”

“Yes,” Eric said. “Some cope better, some don’t. Some simply don’t have an interest in learning to socialize. Those who cope better often end up in space military where discipline and precession, patience and rational thinking, quick decision-making and analytics are required together with the ability to work in a team. Others are active in the trade business. Many Aryaka are very successful in trade.”

Dave startled at a touch. The Aryaka child pulled on his sleeve and examined the colored label on his shirt. Dave rose to his feet, took the child up and carried it in his arms. He moved across the place.

“Well, let’s see where you belong, little one,” he said softly. “They’re sure somewhere around here.”

The child jerked its head and looked at him.

“Hopefully, this won’t provoke another commotion,” Brandon said in a worried voice.

Dave approached a pyramid where a group of Aryaka was seated on a step. They were watching him attentively. A female placed her bowl down and turned her head to Dave. Dave approached the group and sat down on the step. The step was warm from the sun.

“Well, little one, I think this is where you belong,” Dave said, placing the child gently on the pyramid step.

Dave turned his head to the female and smiled at her. The female met his smile with a cold stare. The other Aryaka on the step jerked their heads. One narrowed his eyes to slits and licked his lips. Dave gazed at them in bewilderment, then looked helplessly over the place. The child still clung to his sleeve.

Varyuka made a sign to the teacher. The young female went to the pyramid and took the child from the step. She carried it to a smaller pyramid where the other children had gathered. Dave watched the scene insecurely, then rose from the step and returned to the other men.

“Strange creatures,” he said.

“They’re different,” Brandon said. “Hard for us to understand them.”

“I think the festivity is about to begin,” Eric said.

Adults entered the place and collected the bowls, plates and cups. Others removed the tables. The sun was sinking and it was getting dark. A few Aryaka lit a fire in the center of the place.

The sun sank beneath the horizon.

Varyuka rose to his feet.

“The songs start with the creation song. The creation of the universe,” Eric said. “Shesha said the creation song was composed in ancient times, at the very beginning of Aryaka time.”

Varyuka raised his arms and the Aryaka rose to their feet and sang a song of praise in their language. It sounded weirdly beautiful, alien, and touching at the same time.

A serpent guards the vault
The celestial serpent
A messenger from
Across space and time

A great arch of azure
Lights in the hallway
Strange visions in
The subterranean night

Summon the serpent
Housed in silence
What is the mystery
Behind the door?

The eyes of the serpent
Lost in antiquity
Gleaming like crystal
Strangely attracted

Time moves forward
Adishesha uncoils

As we move through seven levels
We've got seven planes to be
Shining star of the morning
Undulating in eternity

I Am That I Am
Creation takes place

Silence fell. Only the crackle of the fire in the center of the place could be heard. Eric looked at the translator tablet and read what Shesha had written before the song had begun.

“The next song is a song of praise for the creation of the Aryaka species,” Eric whispered to Brandon and Dave.

The Aryaka resumed singing.

The stars light our infinite kingdom
The heavenly fire ignites the dark
Palest moonlight throws its glow
Shining down upon our home

Clouds float over trees that sway
The ocean breeze flows gently
The wind whispers to
The creatures and trees

We look to the stars in the sky
What are we looking to receive?
Kingdom has come
We found solace and peace

Varyuka answered the song. He was singing alone.

I am the ancient of days
Bringing light to the land
I live on the mountain
Searching life's scent
We all have our reasons

I am a dragon
Majestic and glorious
Oblivious to the world below

Silence fell again.

“They mourn the loss of their home planet in the next songs,” Eric said in a low voice.

The Aryaka continued. The adults on the steps sang in wailing voices a sad lament.

In the realms of despair
All we have left are futile things
In a time before time
Mountain of shattered dreams
Son of dawn, star of the morning
Gazing upon the kingdom
We've fallen

The Elder sang a reply, his voice sad and low.

Witness the fate of the tortured land
There is no graceful way to fall
Son of dawn, star of the morning
Darkness has crept into our soul

The waves have risen and lowered
When the sun rose high in the sky
Son of dawn, star of the morning
The old Dragon days have gone by

A long silence followed. A few adults threw more wood into the fire. The flames burst high into the air. Flickering shadows crept across the place and over the steps of the pyramids and a strange intoxicating scent wafted through the air. The Aryaka had thrown something into the fire.

“They migrated to other worlds when their home planet went down, to a space hub and other planets, some far away from their original home,” Eric said. “The following songs are the Songs of Transit, the songs of crossing the universe and praising the great Nahusha, namesake of our captain, who commanded a ship that traveled to a planet in the outbound regions of the galaxy, a planet in a spiral arm, the planet Kunjara.”

The Aryaka sang.

Embarked on a mission
To a far-away planet
Nahusha, the fiery serpent
Piloted the gigantic ship

Dormant for years
Buried in deep recesses
Covered by aluminum foil
Craving for pleasure

A great fire rages
A fire upon the deep
People give up
One at a time

The giant ship rested
On the waters and
Nahusha, the serpent god
Intoned the rite

Chanting the triumph
Nahusha reigned
He acquired great power
And he is king of heaven

A short silence fell before they continued.

“The final songs praise their new world Kunjara,” Eric said.

The Aryaka resumed singing.

Brightening the night with its illustrious light
A grand wheel of fire is traversing the sky
Roar of thunder disrupting the night
Announcing the arrival of the Aryaka

Kunjara shines among the blackness of space
The Rainbow Serpent darts beyond the clouds
The serpent speaks the echo of the deep
Its golden scales are lighting our skies

In the beautiful land covered in shroud
Our vessel is fleeting across the hills
A crown of gold is dancing in the sky
Above the land that is the king's territory

Sacred passage
Kingdom has come

Varyuka replied. The Elder closed the Serpent Songs with two spoken verses.

This is the tale of the olden ones
Spoken by Varyuka, the Great Serpent’s son
Glorious marvels now under dust
The first world, Snagana
A tale of the past

Solace in the gardens of Kunjara
The wind whispers to the creatures and trees
We are Aryaka, strong and beautiful
We’ve recreated heaven and restored peace

Varyuka raised his arms.

“The Dawn of Day. Day of the Dragon. Peace be with you and your kin,” the Elder said solemnly.

Varyuka and the Aryaka sat down on the steps of the pyramids.

Shesha took the translation gadget and typed a text. Eric read it and spoke to Dave and Brandon.

“The steps are warmed artificially. The Aryaka remain sitting for half an hour or so to warm their bodies and then they start all over again. They have thousands of songs. These songs are just a small selection. The celebration is called The Dawn of Day. They will be repeating the songs until dawn has come and the sun will rise above the horizon. We can stay or go to our rooms for the night. Shesha offers to take us there before the Aryaka start anew with their songs.

The men left the place silently. Shesha led them to one of the cubes they had seen when they had arrived. The cubes were guest houses for visitors. The Aryaka lived inside the pyramids. Shesha led them inside the cube, showed them the beds and a bathroom, then left and returned to the celebration place.

The men sat down on the beds, talked for a while, but soon got tired and went to bed. They heard the Aryaka resume their songs. Sounds of an alien beauty lulled them to sleep and accompanied their dreams. Eric dreamed of a secret passage in an alien spaceship. Aryaka were singing a sad song as the spaceship, illuminated by many lights, descended to Earth like a crown from heaven.