Tower To The Sun - Chapter 3: Family Ties

Author's note for Chapter 3: In this chapter I mention that the setting for the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations was Mesoamerica, or ancient Central America. The actual setting of their settlements has not been stated officially by historians and scholars, though it is mine and other author's opinions that the evidence of these people occupying the area at that time is overwhelming.

Author's note, cont.: The Nephites were a group of people whose history is recorded in The Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ. This sacred book of scripture tells of Christ's visit to the Americas and the people who were among the first to inhabit the continent. The Nephites lived from 388 BC to 400 AD, and originally descended from a seer and prophet named Lehi who was told by God to leave take his family and leave their homeland of Jerusalem and travel to the promised land in America.

This and chapters yet to come will also include references to two groups known as the Lamanites and Gadianton robbers. These groups often persecuted and fought against the Nephites in numerous wars chronicled by other prophets throughout The Book of Mormon.

The following is a work of fiction, but it includes historical references to the ancient Nephite civilization that I have attempted to make as accurate as possible. All characters, unless noted, are thus fictional.

If you would like to learn more about the Nephites and Christ's visit to the Americas, you can request a free copy of The Book of Mormon by visiting http://www.mormon.org, as well as learn of Christ's teachings in our modern day.

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Never in my life have I had the opportunity (or the money) to travel out of my own country. It would be my dream come true if I ever got to go somewhere in the tropics, preferably south of Texas. Australia, New Zealand…the sky’s the limit. But, being the poor college student that I am, there was just no way I was gonna be able to pay for such an excursion.

That was my way of thinking as of yesterday. But now, in a matter of minutes, I’d been zapped or sucked inside some kind of parallel reality that was destroyed centuries ago. Ancient history, in the one place I never thought I’d be able to see with my own eyes. Mesoamerica. And I was now right in the middle of it. Right in the middle of one of my library books, that I used to read through and only daydream about.

Himni noticed me thoroughly enjoying the scenery. “Hey,” he said, getting my attention and pulling me out of my trance, “Never seen a jungle before?”

I shook my head honestly. He looked at me like I was an alien.

“You’ve never?!...” he gasped, then shook his head in disbelief. ‘You must not get out much.”

“Trust me, Himni. I’ve never gotten out this much in my life,” I replied. “By the way, where are we going? It looks like we’re on a road- “ I noted, looking to either side of us at the worn dirt path, “Won’t that make it easier for Lamanites or whatever to track us?”

“I told you, we have a long journey ahead of us,” he said, “so we’re stopping somewhere to prepare.”

“And where would that be?”

He looked back over his shoulder and smiled. “My home, of course.”

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The road felt like it went on forever through the dense green forest. The whole way there were chattering monkeys staring down at us curiously as they swung over our heads and tropical birds in every color you could think of, standing out vividly. Once Himni excitedly pointed out a quetzal to me, and I couldn’t help but admire the bird’s sparkling green and scarlet plumage. In Mesoamerican cultures, I remembered from my research, the quetzal was considered sacred. It was amazing, and that was the understatement of the year; being so surrounded by beauty in every single direction. My head was spinning as I tried to take everything in, not wanting to miss a single flower, plant, or animal. Himni seemed pleased to have someone to show off the jungle to.

Hakan carried us down the winding path until it finally ended at the edge of a large clearing, which had been cleared of all trees and plants that might have been there at one point in time. Now, though, the area was a paved center of commerce right in front of the entrance to what was obviously a heavily defended city. An immense stone wall was surrounding it, with guards armed with long spears and clad in armor standing watch at the top on the battlements. An enormous and sturdy looking door sat ominously in the center of the wall; the only entrance into the city I could see. We rode towards it a ways until the crowd in front of the gate was too thick for Hakan to navigate through himself, so Himni dismounted and led him forward. He still didn’t need reigns for his horse to listen to him. I was completely overwhelmed and still suffering from having reality ripped out from under my feet, so I stayed on Hakan’s back where I didn’t have to do anything but try to look calmer than I really was.

Himni knocked on the giant door once we’d squeezed past the crowd of travelers. A moment or so later, a small window opened in it and a pair of narrowed eyes peered out at us.

“What is it?” said the person whom the eyes belonged to.

“Hello, Kaldechai,” Himni said confidently. He probably did this often, I thought to myself. “Mind letting me in?”

The eyes softened their gaze once they recognized him. “Ah, it’s you, Himni. I knew that…” said Kaldechai, then his eyes flashed up to meet mine. I felt suddenly uncomfortable as he scrutinized me. “And who’s that?”

“New friend,” Himni explained. “Let me in now?”

Kaldechai looked me over skeptically for a bit more. Then the little window closed and I heard a creaking groan – the door was being opened. Two guards were pulling either of the two door halves open for us, and we walked past them and entered the city.

It was a busy metropolis of people anywhere you looked. Merchants selling various things lined the streets and shouted their wares, which included several caged birds, lizards, and other tropical fauna. A few people were on horseback like me, most of them captains in the army judging by their uniforms and helmets topped with gorgeous quetzal feathers. It was loud, and it wasn’t even a modern city. I felt dizzy once again trying to keep up with everything I was seeing, and felt slightly angry that I’d never developed the habit of taking my camera everywhere with me. Even though the city was nothing but chaos to my ears and eyes, Himni didn’t seem bothered by it at all. He led Hakan down several streets until we came to a section of town that was nothing but houses lining the road. Himni tied his horse to a post behind one of these houses, which looked just the same as every other house on the street, then he helped me down.

”I’ll put Hakan in the stable where he belongs later – come in and meet my family!” he said, grinning. I followed him around to the front door and went inside, feeling nervous again. Wasn’t meeting one Nephite enough for one day?

Inside Himni’s house was not very spacious, but it was bright, and the cozy feeling it gave off made me immediately feel welcome. We entered into a main front room combined with a dining room, and another entryway led further into the house. Himni went through and I followed him, lagging a good distance behind. Someone screamed in excitement from the next room.

“Himni! You’re back! Big bruther’s back, yaaaay!”

Himni laughed in response, and I walked in the room just in time to see him pick up a smaller boy and swing him around. The five year old had slightly lighter colored hair than Himni and was grinning ear to ear.

“Whatdidya find? Didya bring me something? Didya see Gadyanton robberers?” he babbled. Himni put him down and nodded, putting on a dramatic attitude.

“Oh, I sure did! And you know what?”

“What?? What??”

“There were over twenty of them!” Himni said, using wide arm gestures to emphasize. “They all surprised us and charged! But we were too fast; Hakan ran like the wind to get us away from them. Then we jumped into the river while they shot at us with their arrows!”

The little boy’s eyes were wide and amazed, enthralled by the story. “Did they shoot you, Himni? Did they get you?”

The older Nephite grinned proudly. “Nope! And I even saved a damsel in distress!”

I was about to adamantly protest that last part when an older and wiser voice caught my attention.

“What’s that you mentioned about a ‘damsel in distress?’” a man asked good naturedly as he walked in the room from the front door. He must have arrived just after Himni and I had. Smiling, he leaned on the doorframe and looked at me with interest. “Well Himni, looks like you made a friend today.”

“This is Callista,” Himni nodded and introduced me. “And Callista, I’d like you to meet my father, Zenephi.”

I met the older man’s gaze uncertainly. “H-hello,” I said. “Your son’s a real hero, sir. He saved me from a band of Gadianton robbers.”

Zenephi turned his attention to Himni approvingly. “I’m glad to hear it. This young woman’s life was spared thanks to you, son – you should be very proud of yourself for saving a precious daughter of God.”

Himni positively beamed under his father’s praise, putting his arms behind his back and lowering his head respectfully. “Thank you, Father.”

I felt a sudden warm feeling wash over me, too, and in that moment my respect for my friend’s father grew immensely. He’d added another compliment that was directed toward me in that one statement; one that somehow made me feel like bursting with happiness because it was said by a Nephite, obviously strong in the Spirit.

The small boy Himni had picked up and swung around ran up to his father and clung to him. “Am I preshus too, father? Right? I am, right?”

Zenephi chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Of course you are, Benjamin. All children are precious in the sight of God.”

Now Benjamin, too, wore a beaming grin identical to his brother’s.

“That being said,” Zenephi added, “Where are you from, Callista? You look quite…different from the folk we’re used to seeing pass through here.”

Blushing, I looked down at my bright blue jacket, jeans, tennis shoes, and t-shirt. I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to this Nephite family in simple light-colored clothing, apart from Himni’s headband. I realized that the crowd we’d passed through upon entering the city must have been staring at me as we passed without me even noticing it – my mind had been too fascinated by the Nephite city.

“Er…Logan,” I said, not knowing if he’d know what I meant. Probably not. “It’s a town that lies in front of the canyon.”

“I said I’d take her back, so that’s kind of why we’re here…” Himni put in. “It’s not exactly close by. And I wanted to get your blessing before we leave.”

Zenephi turned his attention to his son, looking thoughtful. He contemplated for a minute, sometimes glancing over at me thoughtfully, too.

“That is a noble goal,” he said approvingly. “And if you plan on embarking on a long journey, I will be more than happy to give you a blessing of protection. Heaven knows I want you coming back here alive.”

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I waited out in the front room with Benjamin while Himni and his father talked in private in another room. Though it made me feel slightly left out, I reminded myself that this wasn’t going to be just a short sightseeing trip. Zenephi would be concerned, and understandably so, about his son’s safety while being gone for so long. He was probably coaching him to make sure he was really sure about his decision to escort me home; reminding him of everything he’d been taught in the art of wilderness safety (which, I thought with a wry smile, was not something a parent would need to remind their son in my world. At most, if a teenager announced he was to be leaving on a week-long excursion, his parents would merely smile and say “have a good trip.” Then again, the streets of Logan weren’t prowled by Gadianton robbers.) He was also likely reminding him of the need to trust in the Lord for safety, above all else. We were definitely going to need His protection.

Suddenly I felt unsure about our upcoming expedition. Could two people alone, one of them untrained in ANY fighting skill whatsoever, make it unscathed through the dense, dangerous jungle of Central America? Not to mention, could we survive through it a whole week?

Wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice Benjamin staring at me curiously from across the room. I felt his eyes on me and finally looked up at him.

“Why you dressed funny like that?” he asked with childish innocence.

I chuckled. “I’m not from around here.”

Feeling braver when he realized I wasn’t going to hurt him or anything, he approached me until there was a foot of space between us and sat down cross legged on the floor.

“Are you Himni’s girlfriend?”

My eyes widened. “Uh…no, no. Heh, we’re friends, yeah. But that’s all,” I replied awkwardly.

Thankfully Himni saved me from further embarrassment by entering the room with Zenephi. Himni looked confident enough to take on the world.

“So are we leaving?” I asked, standing up. I was still nervous about the two of us facing the jungle, but seeing his confidence somehow boosted mine a little.

“Tomorrow you are,” Zenephi answered for him. “Tonight you’re staying here. It’s getting dark.”

Confused, I looked out the window to verify the truth of his words. It WAS getting dark – I could see the sun setting below the horizon already. Entering another time zone must come with entering another reality.

“You can have my room,” Himni said automatically. “I’ll sleep out here.”

“On the floor?” My eyes widened. His unfailing chivalry was becoming so frequent that I wasn’t sure whether or not it was all just an act. I was also really unaccustomed to having a guy act so extremely nice to me. Not that I’d never met any nice guys – it was just that none of them had ever been nice on THIS level. I was definitely born in the wrong century.

He just laughed; like sleeping on the floor was an entirely normal thing. Who knows, maybe it was…at least in this time period. I was still utterly clueless about the era I had so abruptly entered.

Maybe that would change with time. Maybe. After all, I was going to be in Book of Mormon territory for a week.