Chapter 7 - Condemned's Origin

A long while back, when the echidnas were the dominant species, there was a mighty clan that was greater than all the others; the Jakoi Tribe.

They were known for many things: pride, strength, and a fantastic assortment of weapons - but they were mostly known for one thing; their great leader, Aine Ak Alar. The strong echidna would train his hunters until they became what seemed like "superpowered". He would see to it that his tribe would be the healthiest, smartest, and most evolved of all the tribes. Everyone loved him.

Well... not EVERYONE...

Aine Ak Alar's little brother was an echidna of jealousy and anger... his name was Haine Al Alar. He dispised his brother so much because people loved the leader, and shunned Haine. The reason why they scoffed at Haine so much was because of his odd blue color, the color he was born with. Echidnas were supposed to be red and brown and colors of the desert, but Haine... Haine was the color of ice, and death, and he showed a sign of bad luck for the whole tribe.

And that's why they hated Haine. It mattered not if he was royal.

Finally, Haine Al Alar was fed up. He devised a plan in which he would kill his older brother, and become the new leader. That afternoon, Haine crept in his older brother's room as he lay asleep for his afternoon rest. Haine pulled out an obsidian dagger, and plunged it deep within Aine's skull, instantly killing him.

After a few hours, the Jokai Tribe wondered where their leader could be. They finally sent a hunter to investigate the leader's room, only to find Aine Ak Alar still as stone on his own bed, with blood spilling out of his skull.

The tribe blamed Haine for such bad luck.

"It's your fault! You were the omen that foresaw the death of our great leader!"

"We should have killed you the first chance we got!"

When the uproar got too loud, the tribe's shamen decided to hold a meeting.

"We will find out what REALLY killed our great Aine Ak Alar. If it WAS by bad luck, then Haine Al Alar shall be sacrificed to please our god. If it was by any other reason, he shall be spared, and become our new leader.

And so, the great shamen lit a fire, and threw the blood of Aine Ak Alar in. He said a few sacred chants, then boomed the words,

"GREAT LEADER OF THE JOKAI TRIBE! TELL US, WHY ARE YOU DECEASED?"

At first, there was no answer, but then, from inside the fire, a red smoke began to rise and form the sad eyes of Aine Ak Alar. His voice filled the room.

"I have been murdered."

There were screams and roars of protest and death to the murderer all around the shamen's hut. It finally died down when the shaman held to his lips the finger of silence.

"Who has murdered you, o leader? We wish to avenge you." The Shaman asked the red smoke.

It responded.

"My spirit cannot rest in peace, for i am stricken with grief. The name of my murderer is that of Haine Al Alar, my younger brother. Avenge me. Strip him of his body like he has mine..."

Another uproar, this time louder than the last one. Everyone grabbed at Haine, wanting to make him suffer, to make him die. They spat at him, and begged the Shamen to let them execute him.

But the Shamen said "enough".

"We will not beat him, burn him, impale him, or any of that..."

everyone was shocked, until he finished his sentence.

"... we will do as our leader wishes. We will strip him of his body."

"But how?" A young echidna asked.

"By banishing him."

And so, they strapped Haine Al Alar down to the sacrificial rock, and put foul smelling powders all over him. They then drenched him in boiling mammoth blood, and burned a firey circle around him. When that was done, the Shamen spoke haunting incantations, ripping Haine's evil soul from his body. Haine screamed out in pain, and begged the Shamen to stop, but he wouldn't. He spoke the incantations for such not much longer, then said one final sentence before Haine's blue soul was released:

"YOU...ARE...CONDEMNED!!!"

and he was gone.

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