“No dad! Don’t go, don’t leave me again” Schawn begged.

     “I’m sorry son, that's not my choice to make” replied the chief.

     “But... but what if you don’t come back? Promise me you will! Promise me!”cried Schawn

     “Ok. I promise”

      Said the chief faking a deep reassuring voice.

     “But... what if you don’t?”

     Schawn grabbed his father’s arm ever so tightly.

     “Then mom would want you to have this.”

     The chief carefully pulled a golden feather from his hat.

     He gently placed the feather on his son’s small hands and chanted, “Kub umlilo kukhanya, with the rising of the morning sun, here I pass the feather on. May the light bless his soul and touch his heart. With the will of Helios sworn, unleash the power of fire reborn.” Then, the veins on both sides of the feather started to glow, and from it shined a golden light brighter than the morning sun. The rachis and afterfeathers ignited a small blaze. Then a fire path emended from the boy’s small fingers and rose up the feather’s stem, forming onto the feather the design of an eye. Another firepath then moved down the boy’s hands and forearms combining with his odd birthmark and scalding a golden phoenix tattoo onto it.

      As the firepath started to dwindle and the glow diminished, what remains was a fainter pale golden scar in the shape of that eye on the back of the boy’s hands and forearms. Like a tattoo with the design of a phoenix.

     “Goodbye son”

     The chief went up to hug his son one last time and slowly whispered into his ear “Lilo Kukhyana, Schawn”

     War drums and sword clashes could be heard from a distance and the forest was set on fire. The warmth inside Schawn started to fade as he waited... and waited... and waited.

     “Lilo Kukhyana... Lilo Kukhyana... Lilo Kukhyana... ...”

      Lilo Kikhyana tells the tragic tale of a young knight, born under the light of Helios, he was blessed and hated by the gods. After losing his parents at a young age, the young knight then heeded his call of arms in search of a secret weapon that could turn the tide of war. To obtain the feather of a Phoenix, he embarked journey of renewal, growth, and sacrifice and a quest for hope.

To be continued