"You're waking up." I opened my eyes and saw the sandy ground and my body tied to something. "This must be new to you, and maybe a little confusing—to be honest, it would be for me, too," said the young woman with the head of a deer. "I'm Waax." What a fitting name, I thought. "You must be confused." "Welcome to the Cracks, the place where we live." I looked at her in confusion.
"Who? You're the only one here," I replied with a forced smile. I looked around, searching for something I could use to free myself, but it was rather dark. The only light came from the crack above.
She took a step back into the darkness as she said, "You'll see." Everything lit up suddenly—dozens of torches held by tall men who emerged from the darkness. With the light, I could see the place better.
There were dozens of people there—more than I'd ever seen in my entire life, or even in a decade. Those holding the torches were dressed like me, in a loincloth and a deer-skin cloak, but with the top of a skull covering their faces. There were other men who simply wore loincloths without the fur tunics, and there were also many women and children there.
The women were dressed like the young woman; a handful of them wore bone rings on their heads, and one of them was holding a femur. They were all surrounding me in a circle. And they were standing just a little behind the dozen or so men with torches who were closest to me.
"If you were going to eat me, you should have killed me from the start!" I said as I struggled against the ropes they'd tied me with.
"No, my child, we're not going to eat you… not yet," replied the woman with the femur—probably the oldest woman I'd ever seen, her skin already very stretched and wrinkled.
"This is a ritual that will determine your future," she said in a calm voice.
"And what if I refuse to be part of your stupid ritual!" I shouted as I kept struggling until one of the men—whom I hadn't noticed standing next to me—hit me in the stomach with a club.
"Calm down, boy. We're going to untie you, and you'll be part of a marriage ritual," she continued. "You'll be set free, and you'll have to face a hand-to-hand combat match with the man who wants to take your place as Waax's husband." It was all so strange.
"And if I refuse?" I asked, my voice calmer.
"You'll die here, and someone else will take your place in the ritual. But if you agree and defeat all the fighters, you'll become one of us; you'll be able to sleep with a beautiful young woman, and eat and drink," the woman said with satisfaction.
"I see… all right, I'll take part in the ritual," I sighed, resigning myself to going along with it.
The old woman gave a signal with the femur, and the two men beside me untied me. When they cut the last knot binding me with a dagger, I fell to my knees in the sand. I stood up and saw it. What they had tied me to. I stared in amazement at a stone sculpture taller than me or any other man I had ever seen. It was a sculpture of a being that was neither man nor woman but was a person, standing naked with both male and female parts exposed. It was a bit strange to look at. Its hair reached its shoulders, and it had a slender figure and a man's chest but a face that resembled a woman's more.
"Have you never seen a hermaphrodite before?" they whispered in my ear. "You're like a scared little boy." She continued, "That is our lord who gives us water," she told me as I turned to look at her face. She was the reason I was in this mess. "Come, I'll get you ready."
"Ready for what?"
"The ritual won't be today… you're still badly injured. You'll rest, and when the old woman decides you're ready for it, we'll prepare you."
"So what will we prepare?"
"This is where you'll stay," he said as he led me by the arm through the darkness of the crevices. What I saw surprised me: they used the crevices as passageways, since they connected to small caves scattered everywhere, which they used for shelter and sleep.
We arrived at a small cavern where he ushered me inside. "You'll stay here until you're ready for the ritual." In the cavern, there were some animal skins on the floor, bowls made from skulls, two canteens, a bone spear, and a few daggers, as well as a torch that lit up the entire small space.
"You'll sleep here and stay until you're fully healed."
"How did you bring me here?" I asked before he left the cave.
"I didn't bring you." He looked at me and laughed. "It was my brother; this place belongs to him. But don't worry—he'll be here by sunset to rest. Relax for now; I'll come back with him so we can eat."
Those words didn't reassure me. "And what am I supposed to do until then?"
He smiled at me as if to laugh at me. "You just have to wait and rest… you're not a prisoner; you're our guest." I had plenty of time alone until they came to get me; I used the whole afternoon to clear my thoughts. What the hell did all this mean? Why a ritual? Why does their lord seem more like a lady?… It looks like I won't be able to escape—not unless I want to stay alive.