Author: David Dumouriez

The fourth initiation, if you got that far, was where it started. Where you found out what you weren’t.

The first was just a basic exercise in establishing the proper mindset. Donning the skins. Adopting that grinning mask. And, let’s face it, if you couldn’t do that, you had no right being near the Basin in the first place.

To be a Divinator, you had to think like one. That was what the elders said, and it was reasonable enough. There were few who couldn’t manage that.

But it was strange, according to Ged’s perception at least, that those who looked the most imposing at this stage were the ones most likely to fail at the next two levels. It seemed that while they could play the part, they couldn’t inhabit it. They’d crack at the first signs of difficulty and run from a challenge rather than face it.

Sensible, perhaps. But that was not what the elders were looking for. If you’d been nominated, then you’d better live up to expectations.

The elders wanted to know how much spirit you had in you. In the second phase, they worked each candidate until they dropped. For some this could be minutes; for others, hours. In rare cases, days. Paradoxically, while it was less burdensome to collapse early, no one who was serious did so.

Ged and Jiah, though strangers of course, formed some kind of connection out of adversity and, unwittingly, spurred each other on. From the corner of his eye, Ged could see Jiah struggling across the scrubby terrain, equally set on ending up at a point that both of them knew was unreachable. When Jiah staggered and went down for the last time, Ged carried on without a backward glance. And so it continued until Ged was no longer aware of time and place.

In the third passage, Ged noticed that there were fewer of them left. And without the costume or the masks, and with the scratches and the malnutrition of the previous initiation, the remaining candidates appeared much less impressive. But, in some way, did they also not now look more formidable?

The elders had collected them from where they fell, but they’d neglected to satisfy their hunger or their thirst. Instead, they paired them off with one portion of bread and one of water. You could see the person opposite you, and you could see the other pairs too within the dusty ring. The elders walked among them, offering neither advice nor encouragement.

At first the individuals looked around at the other pairs, wondering who would move first and what they’d do.

Ged saw the desperation in the eyes of the nearest pair. It was no surprise, then, that they were the ones who made the initial move. It was rudimentary, and it was over quickly. The candidates had at last turned against each other, as Ged suspected they would.

This was the cue for others to do the same. Some battles were short; some long. Some full of sound; others silent.

Ged – by design? – was paired with Jiah.

They looked at each other. Ged nodded. Jiah then also nodded. Reflecting each other’s movements they slowly stepped to the centre where the food and liquid was, and then took half each. It wasn’t enough, of course. But thereafter they sat impassively. The elders exchanged looks and gave them more.

In the first three stages, they tested what you knew about yourself.

The fourth was where you found out you knew nothing …