Chapter 7: The Initiate

Babackt Yaga and her followers walked in silence throughout most of the morning. At the beginning there were only three companions, two young men and a middle-aged woman. Eventually they were joined by a young couple armed with longbows and carrying four dead hares and a sack of roots. Another older man later joined the group, lugging several fish.

All of Babackt Yaga’s companions were dressed alike. The women wore black, long-sleeved dresses with dark red aprons, while the men wore black robes. The women’s aprons and the men’s robes were embroidered with a red skull. Everyone carried a real skull mounted on a long staff. Even in daylight, the group had a very sinister appearance.

Danka nervously followed the others, very self-conscious about being the only naked person in the group and not wearing a Church collar to give legitimacy to her nudity. She continued to be scared, traveling with the strange group and unsure if Babackt Yaga really was planning to spare her life. However, she had no choice but to follow. She knew that she could never hope to escape from a group of people who undoubtedly knew the woods as well as they knew the insides of their homes. Also, even if she had been presented with the choice, Danka really did not have much desire to escape. Mentally and spiritually, she was exhausted from the traumatic events of the past two weeks. The more she thought over her situation, the more she realized that she had nowhere to go. Even if she could return to Severckt nad Goradki, what would she do there? The first thing people would ask her was what had happened to her master Bagaturckt. The thought crossed her mind that, if the horses had been re-captured, she might already be considered a fugitive.

The group traveled along the main trail for a while, heading back in the direction towards Severckt nad Goradki, before turning onto a side path that led north. As soon as the alchemists were out of sight from the main trail, they stripped off their clothing, consolidated everything into a cloth bag, and handed it to Danka to carry. As they ascended into increasingly steep terrain, the naked alchemists made frequent stops to collect berries, herbs, and roots, which they carried in sacks that grew heavier as the morning wore on.

At midday the terrain flattened out and the group emerged into a cleared area. There were several well-kept gardens surrounding the strangest house Danka had ever seen. The structure was round instead of square, but what made it truly bizarre was that it was four fathoms above the ground, perched on top of three large tree trunks. The roots of the trees extended above the ground, reminding Danka of enormous birds’ feet. Suddenly Danka remembered, as a child she had heard stories, of a witch who lived in a house in the forest that stood on huge chicken feet.

Babackt Yaga did not give the newcomer a chance to rest. She collected the hares and fish from her followers and ordered the captive to accompany her to an open shed that contained a kiln and an outdoor kitchen. Danka was perplexed that she did not see any firewood: instead she noticed a large pile of black rocks. Babackt Yaga directed her attention to a stone table.

“Very well, ‘bloody one’, I wish to see for myself if your Temple nickname was justified. Clean these animals so we may eat.”

Danka expertly skinned and gutted the hares before preparing the fish. Babackt Yaga carefully observed the newcomer and seemed satisfied that Danka had told her the truth, at least as far as handling meat was concerned. The next detail the alchemist wanted to know was how well Danka could cook. Babackt Yaga called over one of her female followers and ordered her to start cooking, with the newcomer to assist. She ordered the captive to assist the woman who was normally assigned to prepare meals. The cook questioned her and figured out that Danka knew some recipes and seasoning techniques that were unique to the Danubian Church, thus verifying another portion of the newcomer’s claims.

The cook ordered Danka to pick up some of the black rocks and move them to the stove. The rocks were unlike anything she had ever seen: heavy, totally black, and powdery. The cook then shocked her assistant by throwing the rocks into the oven and setting them on fire.

“A secret of the Ancients. We call it cave-charcoal. It’s special charcoal the Ancients placed in the ground for us, and it burns much better than anything we’d get from trees. When the winter darkness descends upon us and the cold blows off the mountains, you will give thanks many times over to the Ancients for this present we have taken from the ground.”

Hearing those words helped calm Danka’s nerves, not because cave-charcoal was going to keep her warm over the winter, but because the cook apparently took it for granted she would be with the group (and thus still alive) at the end of the year.

While her captive was busy with dinner, Babackt Yaga sadly spread the mushrooms on a drying rack to make sure they were completely dry. Later she would take other measures to ensure they would be preserved indefinitely, until she needed them for medicines and potions. Given the scarcity of the species, the supply was enormous, but it also represented the destruction of a large percentage of the world’s remaining living specimens. Babackt Yaga’s only consolation was that at least she recovered the mushrooms and had them for her own use; that they had not been taken to Vienna. However, they were irreplaceable. There would be no new mushrooms sprouting up the following year to replace the ones that accursed fortune-seeker had destroyed.

A purse of gold, how absurd, a purse of gold, if only that ignorant dilettante had known. “The Joy of the Ancients” was worth far more than any amount of gold.

Even though he was dead, anger against Bagaturckt and his loathsome pseudo-scientific friends in Vienna welled up inside the alchemist.

A purse of gold indeed.

Danka did not have her midday meal with the others. She was not yet an accepted member of the group and thus did not have permission to share their table. She ate alone, sitting at the base of one of the trees that held up that strange suspended house Babackt Yaga called home. She noted the drying mushrooms and wondered about her bucket. She had seen the alchemist taking it up into the house with Bagaturckt’s items, so presumably it was still there.

After the midday meal, three followers stayed behind to clean up, while the others departed the compound. (Later Danka would learn that Babackt Yaga had planted rare herbs and fungi all around the area surrounding the settlement, and it was up to her followers to check on the plants to make sure they were healthy until it was time to harvest their ingredients.) The compound was completely empty, apart from three people in the kitchen area. Babackt Yaga approached the newcomer and ordered her to follow her inside the raised house. She pulled a rope and a ladder came down automatically.

The interior of the building was very carefully laid out, to take advantage of every bit of space and still provide a comfortable work and research area. The furnishings were simple, but were made from fine materials and expertly crafted. One wall was completely covered by bookshelves filled with books written in various western European languages. Another wall was completely covered by shelves containing jars and expensive-looking vases full of alchemy ingredients. There was a writing desk and a table filled with very strange-looking glassware. There were assorted storage trunks. Babackt Yaga directed Danka’s attention to neatly folded stacks of black and dark red linen.

“You will take one red cloth and one black cloth. Your first duty to me will be to prepare a dress for yourself. In the forest we live uncovered, as we have been created. Among the non-believers we show ourselves in the cloth of our forbearers.”

Danka took her cloth and looked at Babackt Yaga, waiting for further instructions.

“You will understand, as long as you do not speak to me as a liar, the Ancients have called upon me to spare you. They do not want your blood, because the blood of the ignorant and the blood of the bystander is unacceptable for the nourishment of the earth. Do you understand me so far?”

Danka was frightened and bewildered by the alchemist’s talk of blood, but she managed to respond that she understood. Babackt Yaga knew that her captive was not truthful; that she really had not understood.

“You just lied to me, Danka Siluckt. You are trying my patience. Answer honestly. Did you understand what I just said?”

“I ... I guess ... I mean ... not really ... Babackt Yaga...”

“That’s better ... somewhat, Danka Siluckt. An important rule for seeking knowledge is to never falsely claim you understand something when actually you don’t. You didn’t understand what I just said because there is no way you could understand, given your ignorance. You don’t comprehend the ways of the Ancients, so how could you comprehend my words?”

“Yes, Babackt Yaga.”

“Very well, I will give you your first lesson about the ways of the Ancients. I said that you were ignorant and a bystander. I did not say you were innocent. You participated in the destruction of something precious, something that cannot be replaced. Your actions were under duress and characterized by ignorance, but those facts do not change the outcome of what happened. In your case, punishment is not appropriate, but the Ancients will call on you to atone for what you did. You will understand that punishment and atonement are different?”

“Yes, Babackt Yaga. That’s one of the things the Priests taught me at the Temple.”

“Good. Now, to enlighten you about ‘the Joy of the Ancients’. The name humans gave to those mushrooms is unfortunate and erroneous. Those mushrooms don’t bring joy; they provide something much more important. When properly prepared with other ingredients, they provide restoration. Those mushrooms actually have regenerative powers. I will give you an example: myself. Would you like to guess how old I am? Try, Danka Siluckt. Guess how old I am.”

“I’d guess ... maybe ... you’d look around 60 ... maybe 65 ... Babackt Yaga.”

“That is the age people guess, for the most part, except that my vision is still clear and my hearing is that of a lass. The truth is that I was born in the year 1642. I am 109 years old. I am growing older as the years pass, but the regenerative powers of the mushrooms have slowed the aging process in my body. I’ve calculated that I age one year for every four years a normal person ages. To understand the mushrooms, you must understand that what is a blessing for me, and a few other select Followers, is a curse for the mushrooms. The mushrooms live many decades and mature very slowly. That also means they reproduce very slowly. When we harvest a mushroom, we have to prepare for its replacement. We know how to replace the mushrooms, but the process is difficult and not always successful, so we are very sparing in our harvesting. It would be tempting for all Followers to receive the longevity potion, but we understand such a thing is not possible. I was granted that privilege because of my research, my ability to perform medical operations, my knowledge of foreign languages, my work as a translator, and my potion-making skills. My Path in Life is to pass as much of that knowledge as I can to my apprentices. People come into my life, they learn skills to fight the Profane One’s curses, most of them eventually depart, and living among the Christians they apply those skills.”

“You’d ... maybe ... you’d teach me some things ... Babackt Yaga?”

“It’s possible. First, you will be called upon to atone for your offense against the Ancients. Once you have demonstrated your willingness to protect the remnants of the Old World and have proven your ability to learn, there is knowledge you can take away from here that would help you combat the Profane One. Now. To return to the topic of the mushrooms. Every passing year there are fewer and fewer of them, because fortune hunters plague these forests. They seek the mushrooms for pleasure, which is a great tragedy. We were hoping to speed up the reproduction of the mushrooms to prevent their extinction. I am convinced such a thing is possible, and then the restorative powers would be available to more people. Bagaturckt’s actions set back that goal, possibly forever. That streambed was the only place that I know of where the mushrooms were reproducing on their own.”

Danka felt sick. She took a breath, struggling with the feeling that she needed to add a grim detail about her outing with Bagaturckt.

“You are troubled, girl. Speak your mind.”

“I hate to say this, but I was the one who spotted the first mushroom. Bagaturckt had just entered me, and I wanted to wash his filth out of my body. So, I went into the stream, and saw ... I don’t know, Babackt Yaga, maybe he would’ve found them anyway, but it was I, I who spotted the mushrooms. I wasn’t sure if it was what he was looking for, but I pointed them out, and his whole face changed, like he was possessed.”

There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. Babackt Yaga broke the silence.

“Had you known what I just told you, and what Bagaturckt did to the streambed, what would you have done?”

“I would have thrown some leaves over them, Babackt Yaga, and kept quiet. But I didn’t. Something you should know, I guess.”

“What you said confirms what I thought about you. You were a bystander. You were ignorant. You’re not guilty, but you’re not exactly innocent, either. You do not deserve punishment, but you do need to atone for your part in what happened.”

“Yes, Babackt Yaga.”

“As of today, you will begin preparation for atonement. I will tell you what you need to do when the moment comes. I will call upon you to perform some duties that will seem strange, and appear to contradict some of what you learned at the Temple. I am not saying that anything taught at the Temple is wrong, but you will need additional knowledge for your life in the forest. The ways of the Ancients, the knowledge of pre-Christian times, are things that cannot be taught by those who do not follow the Ancients: not by the True Believers, nor by the Old Believers.”

Danka thought about the numerous pieces of knowledge she had learned during her year living as a penitent. She wondered, not only about what she had learned so far, but about the people who had taught her. She had questions. However, at that moment she was unable to articulate them. Babackt Yaga noted her captive’s pensive expression.

“Perhaps you’d like to know what I think of the Senior Priest at the Temple in Starivktaki Moskt. Perhaps that is as good a starting point as any.”

“Yes, Babackt Yaga.”

“His character is flawed, which partly explains Bagaturckt, both how he was raised and his father’s blindness to his greed and depravity. And yet, as flawed as the Senior Priest is as person, he does wish to understand the Ultimate Truth. Unlike many Christians, he respects the Ancients and has never deliberately acted against them. He wants the Danubian Church to represent our people and our traditions, so he has formally renounced the teachings of the Roman Church. Those are my observations. He is a flawed man who seeks direction from the Creator. That’s the best answer I can give you.”

“Yes, Babackt Yaga.”

There was another uncomfortable pause, with the alchemist seemingly lost in thought.

“As for his son, it is a pity, that the Profane One decided to separate his soul from his body and deny me that privilege. Bagaturckt’s blood would have made a fine gift, a fine gift indeed, for the Ancients.”

Danka looked at Babackt Yaga with a totally bewildered expression, unsure if she understood correctly. Would she have offered Bagaturckt’s blood to the Ancients?

“The time will come when you understand what I meant by my last comment, when you are closer to atoning for your actions.”

Babackt Yaga changed the subject.

“Your Path in Life has led you here, because it is the wish of the Ancients. Your first duty will be to prepare your dress. Your second duty will be to learn how to sing as the Ancients sang, in what the Christians call ‘archaic Danubian’. You will leave my alchemy lab and seek out Jasnackta, our best seamstress. She will guide you through the steps needed to prepare your dress.”

Danka spent the following two weeks putting together her outfit. She already knew how to sew and repair poor-quality clothing, but her previous experience was useless for preparing a dress suitable for the Followers of the Ancients. The uniform had to be made with care and respect. So, for two weeks Jasnackta patiently guided the newcomer, cut-by-cut, measurement-by-measurement, and stitch-by-stitch as she prepared the clothing that would become her identity anytime she left the forest and appeared in public. Later there would be other duties, such as gardening, food gathering, cleaning, and repairs, but all of that would wait until her dress was ready.

Danka started with another duty the day after arriving: singing. Every night after dark she joined the other women among the Followers practicing hymns that were thousands of years old. The hymns were different from the songs she had learned at the Temple in Starivktaki Moskt: very mysterious and with a pagan sound that was almost sinister. Among the songs she learned was an ancient calling of seduction used in pre-Christian temples:

Man’s first woman had fruit in her garden Sweet fruit no man would resist She knelt and offered her very best He came to her to indulge Sweetness beyond what he had known Man and woman joined

I have fruit in my garden Sweet fruit no man will resist I kneel to you and offer my very best Come to me and indulge Sweetness beyond what you have known Man and woman joined

During the time she worked on her dress, Danka continued to live completely naked. After having spent a year wearing a penance collar, she was used to not wearing anything made from cloth. However, in the camp of the Followers of the Ancients she did not even have her collar or her boots. Both items were locked up with her bucket. As she walked around in the woods or performing her duties, completely devoid of any human-made object on her body and her bare feet in constant contact with the ground, she learned what it was to live in a true state of nature.

The black dress and dark red apron felt very strange when Danka tried them on for the first time. In the warm summer weather the items were hot, uncomfortable, and felt unnatural. However, the outfit would become an important part of Danka’s life, giving her identity and marking her as a member of a group most people would not dare to offend or cross.

As she held the finished outfit and ran her fingers over its tight stitching, Danka saw irony in her Path in Life. Twelve months earlier, her journey had started because she wanted a fine dress that would attract young men to her. Now, for her trips to Severckt nad Goradki and the surrounding villages she did have a fine dress, but its purpose was totally the opposite of what she had sought. No eligible young man would dare approach her or flirt with her while she was wearing a uniform that identified her as a Follower of the Ancients. She would be marked as a member of a cult that maintained itself aloof from average Danubians.

Two days before the summer solstice, Babackt Yaga and most of her followers traveled to a secret location to conduct celebrations and sacrifices. The only members of the group who did not travel to the holy site were the uninitiated apprentices. There were five young people in circumstances similar to Danka: they had their outfits but had not yet earned the embroidered skull logo or staff. For the uninitiated, the days around the solstice were a time for relaxing, to go berry picking and fishing, to wander about, or just to sleep.

Among the uninitiated was a reserved young man called Kaloyankt. He was from the town of Severckt nad Goradki and spoke with an educated accent. Danka had caught his attention from the moment she entered the settlement. Now, with the others gone and little to distract the newcomer, he decided to invite her fishing.

Danka accompanied him, out of boredom more than anything else. Her feelings about going with Kaloyankt were mixed. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he wanted, but still, the idea of having a friendship with another follower greatly appealed to her. With several weeks now separating her from the year she had spent at the Temple, she wondered how she tolerated living that entire time with just one person to talk to. Also, she was curious to see what being with an upper-class young man would be like, compared with the wretched impoverished men of her youth and the self-centered dilettante Bagaturckt. Kaloyankt seemed relatively trustworthy and if things with him went badly, she could talk to Babackt Yaga.

Danka followed Kaloyankt along several trails to a pond that she already had visited a couple of times. Both Danka and Kaloyankt were completely naked: even their feet were uncovered. They strolled in absolute silence, listening for any changes or possible dangers in their environment. When they arrived at the pond, they went swimming before sunning themselves on some rocks and preparing their fishing lines.

It turned out that Kaloyankt had invited Danka on the outing because he needed to talk. He started by asking her about the house she had visited in Severckt nad Goradki. Danka was evasive with her answer, but she gave away enough information for Kaloyankt to understand that she had indeed been there. Then he surprised her:

“You know, that fortune hunter you were with, that ‘Master’ Bagaturckt, he was a friend of my father. When I was a teenager, I saw him, several times, at my father’s house.”

“Your father, it’s your father who owns that house?”

“Yes.”

“ ... and set up that room? ... and hired the servants?”

“Yes.”

“So, then ... You know, you know what happened to me with Bagaturckt?”

“Yes. I don’t need to ask you about the details, because I already know. I saw what went on, in that room many times when I was a boy. I watched, never spoke up about it, never tried to warn any of the women. I watched my father and his friends, never did anything, but I always felt guilty about it. Then, last fall during the equinox, the Creator spoke to me, told me I needed to get out of the house. That I needed to renounce my father and his fortune, go to the woods, and confront my Path in Life.”

“Which brought you here?”

“Yes. Just like you. Well, in some ways the same and in some ways different. I came here on my own, but I didn’t know what I was looking for. I got lost, and Babackt Yaga found me, just like she found you. And, serving the Ancients became my Path in Life.”

“But you don’t have your skull.”

“No. I haven’t atoned for my father’s actions, so I don’t have my skull.”

“But really, what do you have to atone for? You didn’t do anything...”

“ ... and did you? What did you do? You were a bystander who watched a dishonorable act and did nothing. You are neither guilty nor innocent. I am the same as you. A bystander. A witness. Neither guilty nor innocent.”

The conversation was interrupted by a catch, a fine large perch that would feed them both. They landed the fish and returned to the settlement to cook and share a meal.

The next day was the day of the solstice. Danka had agreed to go with Kaloyankt for a second outing. She wasn’t interested in talking about Kaloyankt’s father, but she wanted to share some of her experiences at the Temple and get another person’s perspective. Also, noting his interest in her, she figured she’d make love to him if he asked. She administered herself a dose of birth-control paste ... just in case.

She followed him to the pond, admiring his naked backside as he walked. She resisted the urge to touch him as she realized that she was aroused and wanted him to take her. He seemed different from Bagaturckt: hopefully sex with him would be different as well. They picked enough berries for a snack before going to the pond. They swam, frolicking with each other before returning to the rocks to dry off in the sun.

Kaloyankt couldn’t keep his eyes off Danka. She truly was a lovely sight: a woman at the very beginning of her youth, her body fit from her constant movement and evenly tanned from long hours outside, and fine delicate features that were so different from the usual drab appearance of a peasant-girl. Kaloyankt found everything about Danka desirable, even her rough unrefined rural accent. She was a girl of nature, totally different from the sheltered indoor women inhabiting the fine houses of Severckt nad Goradki.

Danka was not sure what to expect, but she was looking forward to having sex with Kaloyankt. He was precisely the type of man she had been hoping to attract the year before. She sat quietly, waiting for him to begin. She had not yet discovered that women can initiate love-making just as easily as men.

Kaloyankt began by running his hands over Danka’s body. He kissed her, starting with her neck, then moved to her lips. He was hard by the time he kissed her breasts and sucked her nipples. She responded by running her hands over his back. From the beginning his bottom had excited her, so her hands moved to that part of her lover. She actively explored him, which was something she had never tried with her first lover. Kaloyankt ran his fingers between the girl’s thighs and over her vulva. She was wet and gasped with pleasure as he touched her.

Danka lay on her back as Kaloyankt entered her. He thrust hard, over and over. His love-making was rough and vigorous, but that was what Danka expected. So far she had not experienced tender sex. She gasped with delight as pleasure overwhelmed her. For the first time in her life, she experienced an orgasm.

A few minutes later the couple was rinsing off in the water. They still had to catch their next meal, so the romantic moment of love-making transitioned to the practical task of sitting quietly and waiting for a fish. During the wait, they talked.

Danka talked about her year at the Temple and her lessons with the seminary student. Kaloyankt was very impressed when she told him that in less than a year she had learned to read, write, do simple arithmetic, use the abacus, obtain a fundamental understanding of music, and memorize numerous hymns.

“If you could do all that in just a year, I think you’ll learn alchemy very quickly. I know that as soon as she returns, Babackt Yaga will start teaching you some of the recipes. You’ll have to start learning the plants and formulas. She’ll test you to see how well you can remember things. If your memory is good, you’ll become responsible for tasks that are more complicated.”

Danka Siluckt was beginning to understand that she was blessed with an exceptional memory and the capacity to grasp new ideas and concepts very quickly. During her year at the Temple she had been held back by having to direct all of her efforts into learning how to read. Having mastered that basic skill, during her service under Babackt Yaga there was nothing to interfere with her ability to learn a wider variety of subjects. She could remember simple recipes after having seen them just once, so within a few days Babackt Yaga had her studying recipes that were more complicated. She received instructions on how to measure temperatures, weigh ingredients, calculate time, and work with fractions. Babackt Yaga watched as Danka prepared medicines, with no guidance apart from following a recipe book. She understood the importance of identifying plants: when tasked to go out into the forest and find ingredients, she always returned with exactly what was needed.

Working the gardens was not a challenge for Danka at all. Her previous experience as both a peasant and seeing the experimental Church gardens in Starivktaki Moskt prepared her for working the gardens in Babackt Yaga’s settlement. She already had a basic understanding of plant selection, so new ideas such as cross pollination and breeding plants for specific traits were easy for her to grasp.

Danka took pride in her work and her learning. She fully understood the importance of mastering potion-making and taking great care with the details of every recipe. She remembered the servant’s words about her instructor: “Her alchemy is something to behold, because her potions can heal many of the curses Beelzebub the Destroyer has inflicted on us, many evil things can be healed, or simply prevented.” She was excited to think that the mystery behind those potions had vanished; that she now knew how they worked and even how to prepare some of them.

In the middle of July, Danka and Kaloyankt left the forest with Babackt Yaga and four fully initiated Followers. It was the first time since her arrival that Danka would leave the woods or see anyone other than a Follower. The group walked directly south, taking several steep and perilous shortcuts to hasten their trip. Before exiting the forest they put on their uniforms. As soon as they emerged into the open, they mounted a wagon driven by two guards who were waiting for them. The Followers rode the rest of the distance to a small town called Nagoronkti-Serifkti and their destination, the settlement’s church.