With Lud’s problems taken cared of to some extent, and the elder shaman returned to us, we went to the cave with a hunting party. Chief Boary wanted to go in and hunt the evil thing, and the second shaman approved it like the idiot he was. But most of the hunters worth his spear including myself were against it, and the elder shaman supported us.
Then the second shaman suggested that we should give tributes to the thing inside the cave, since it is likely to be a evil god than a mere evil spirit. But elder shaman was dead against it, as giving tributes to any evil god would anger mighty Rtur and mother Limbaa.
So, in his advise, we labored long and took giant boulders to seal off the cave with all its horrors within. The elder shaman added the shards of the glowing stones that grow in the depths of the caverns under the eastern mounds on the boulders and the rocks, and we added more stones and earth over it to seal the cave off completely.
He then chanted for long and danced with the drum, praying to Mighty Rtur and Mother Limbaa to ward off the evil that lied inside, to seal it off so that it may never come out.
As we ended putting the boulders on the cave entrance, we saw a yellow tailed Farrowpiper cawing as it crossed the sky. Elder shaman told us that it was the sign that mighty Rtur approved of our actions , and we returned.
I sincerely hope our seal lasts for many ages to come. But, if someday it comes off, let this story be told in our tribe, and be part of the warning legends that are passed from generation to generation. Let it serve to warn those who must take refuge in a cave in stormy nights. Let it alert them who ventures into the depths of unknown, dark places, make them cautious about the unknown dangers that lurk in there, waiting to take you, drag you into depths of abyssal darkness and unfold to you horrifying unknown secrets that sleep there, secrets best left untouched.
III
Prehistoric Legends II: Journey to the Eastern Mounds
“We need to take the shaman’s trail. It will save us a lot of time.”
Journey to the Eastern Mounds
Chapter 1
“What should we do?” We asked the elder shaman.The elder shaman shook his head, worrisomely.
Lud was again acting up. It happened at times, specially during full moon, and often these would be associated with a faint tremor in the ground, something that took a very careful tracker like me to discern.
I was concerned at first, saddened after that, and annoyed at present. It had started raining, and cold, and I would rather be at my tent with Fihy after a good meal, than here, watching my friend being weird and crazy. Not in a fun way either.
Lud was gazing the stars in the middle of the field and sometimes muttering something in cohesive, and sometimes seemed to be frightened from nothing.
“We got to do something about it.”Said Boary.
Lud suddenly cried out in an unknown language, stretched his arms by his side, and ran through the field, brambles and all, under the cloudy, thunder stricken sky. His scars started to glow.
“I do not think he is entirely okay.”Elder shaman said thoughtfully.
“You really think so, do not you?” I said.
“Can you do something about it?”Boary asked, gesturing at two other men sitting beside him to go catch Lud.
“I will have to try it with a ritual.”Elder shaman said, as lightning flashed across the sky, lighting the many wrinkles of his face. I could see that he was frowning.
“How many goats or deer do you want for the ritual?”Boary asked
“I can not perform it here. I think the only way to help him is to take him inside eastern mounds. Only the water of the underground ocean could cleanse the evil that has touched his mind.”Elder shaman said.”But to do that, I would need help from more people, as I can not control him by myself. Also, I would like two goat calfs at least. Can not digest old meat well now a days.
“Two people?”Boary thought. “Huj, would you like to go?”
“I would. Lud is not in himself like this now. I would like him to become better again.”I said.
“I would like to go too.”Second shaman came around from somewhere. Probably he was waiting silently.
“No.”Elder shaman said.”I do not think this would be a good idea.”
“Why, would not you agree that your ritual would go better if there were two shamans?”
“It might happen, but I think one shall suffice.”Elder shaman said.”You are not yet ready to see the underground ocean of the eastern mounds in my opinion. Besides, leaving the tribe without a shaman would not be a good idea. Who would ward off the evil spirits if no shaman is here? Would not you agree?”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”Disgruntled, he left.
“When do you want to leave, shaman?”I asked.
“I think we should leave tomorrow.”Elder shaman said.”It would be best to not let Lud detoriate more.”
“What about food?”
“I will give you enough to feed five people for both ways.”Boary said.
“That would be great!”I exclaimed.
I knew Boary loved Lud more than others. Everyone knew it was because of Xixi, Lud’s mother. Boary loved her above everything when she was alive. She was very kind to me too. Lud had her eyes, and a few other good qualities. There was good reason I tried so hard to save him.
“We would not need to carry much.”Elder shaman said.”I will not take the usual rout round the highlands. I will take the shaman’s trail, one that goes straight to the eastern mounds through the pass. That way it will be much faster.”
I was excited. He sometimes took this rout, and we did not know much about it. There were two routs to the eastern mounds that we knew of. Whenever we went as tribespeople, we took a long rout through the woods, that goes around the highlands, and it takes around two moons. But elder shaman often used to go there while we camped here, and with his shortcut it took him not even half a moon, both ways. It has been used only by the shamans of older generations. It would be an honor to know the secret passage.
As I came back to the tent, Fihy came trotting to me. When she heard about what has happened, she said she would like to go too.
“I do not know, Fihy, the road is still long and dangerous. We never went that way. I do not know if Boary would allow.”
“I will go if he would allow.”Fihy said, lowering her face.”I miss Lud too.”
Lud used to live in the same tent of us quite often before the ordeal. We had many fond memories.
“Me too.”I patted her on her back.”We will go and get him to be better.”
Suddenly, with thunder cracking on the sky, the ground shook a little, quite perceivable by every awake being. Fihy yelped and jumped on my chest, being startled. Many others seemed disturbed by these earthquakes.
“Something is wrong with the ground.”Fihy muttered, burying her face on my chest.
“It is just mother Limbaa stretching her legs and getting more comfortable. You know that.”I said, licking my lips which were drying out. I did not have much confidence in what I said.
“Do not you feel it? Something has changed in the air..in the ground. It has happened each time ground shook lately.”Fihy lifted her head and looked at me.
I knew she was right. Though she has always been fragile in build and often sickly, she had a keen sense of premonition. Somewhere deep down, we all in the tribe were feeling odd in our bones. .
“Let us sleep. Tomorrow we get up before sunrise.”I said.
Chapter 2
Next morning, we left the tribe for the eastern mound. Lud seemed better than last night, though by no means he was going to be trusted to be alone. We tied a rope on his waist, lest he wanders away. Elder shaman rode his donkey that he had tamed by some means with his magic.
The first day passed nicely, except for the fact elder shaman did not let me dump the food baggage onto the donkey, and I had to carry most of the loads for Fihy and Lud, and the absolute pain it was to travel with Lud.
I thought Fihy would have a
hard time keeping up, but Lud was the worst. He was already too slow for my taste, and even though we would beg him to speed up, he would stop at random times, and look at flowers and insects and things. Or babble nonsense.
We had our meal around a fire, as I managed to make a shelter for us all. Fihy helped, and elder shaman helped with the fire, for which I was thankful. He was quite good at it, plus a fire made by the elder shaman would keep the evil spirits at bay.
But next day, we were going beyond the parts we usually hunted. We did not come this far in this direction, as the trees became lesser and lesser, and we were bordering a dry land near a swamp. Elder shaman told us that the swamp was actually a drying land, as these dry lands we are passing through were once swamp too, and before that these whole area was flooded with water. It was some changes and will of the gods that the water all went into the grounds, leaving this place to dry. However, a minor stream still ran across the swamp, and we collected water from it.
For the night , we camped a bit away from the swamp. Fihy and I stood watch. In the early night, Fihy wanted to stay up. I stayed up with her a bit too, as the climate was nice, except a fog accumulating on the marshes and swamp. The elder shaman told us not to go into the swamp at night at any cost, and we did not intend to either.
I slept off soon, only to be awaken by Fihy somewhat later. Lud was gone.
We had tied him up at the waist, but did not tie up his hands. It would look awful, and would have been really uncomfortable for him, but apparently that was a mistake. Fihy was thinking about something, when Lud must have slipped off.
I quickly awakened elder shaman. He asked me to stay with him for a while before he makes the preparations to get into the swamp, but I could not afford to lose more time.
“You do not want to wait? I understand the risk..” He asked.”But you must be cautious. The swamp is a tricky place. Do not go near anybody unless you are sure it is a human.”
“As you say, shaman!”I went after the tracks Lud had left.
He and Fihy stayed with the donkey and the rest of our supplies, and he told her to make a fire as big as possible, so that I can see it.
I had lit a torch that could be lit with flints, and ran through the swamp. It was not too hard for me to track him, since he made no attempt to hide the tracks. I could see any predator nearby as there was no cover other than the uneven surface of dried and wet mud, making it look like a crocodile’s back, at least till my vision was reaching. Beyond that it was all fog, and the moonlight coming through torn clouds did not do much but to obscure everything.
I was mostly worried about snakes and quicksands. I managed to avoid a few pits too. After a while, I could see a figure hunching over a hole.
“Lud!”I thought I would call, but stopped myself. Elder shaman had warned me. I had to make sure.
As I neared the silhouette as silently as was possible for me in the fog and the wet swamp, it somehow got warned. In horror, I saw it raising its spherical, perfectly round and bald head towards me, and stare at me with unnatural, glowing, circular yellow eyes. It could not be a human. In the next moment, it jumped into the water in front of it, which I realized must have been a deep hole. I was fortunate not to step in one while I pursued Lud, else I could fall into one and drown, or be attacked by one of those creatures. I carefully tapped my way before with the spear, and followed the disturbed weeds and broken reeds, the awkwardly shaped mud tracks and such. If this was not full of mist it would have been easier.
Something splashed on my right hand side. I quickly turned, realizing that the torch I was carrying was drawing attention towards me, and it was not a comforting thought.
I cursed Lud for doing this, but the poor fellow simply did not have the right mind. I tried to keep tracking him, and suddenly I found that there was a shadow ahead of me. It was a part of land raising up from the ground, like a small hillock. I realized that it was somewhat off track, but it seemed that the fog was lighter up there. I decided to climb it, to see what was lying ahead.
I struggled with the torch and the spear, digging it in at times in the mud and the dirt, sometimes placing it over a crack and so on. As I managed to climb up, I sighed of relief.
It was short lasting. Before me the vast marshland stretched in a hopeless vista, where the fogs obscured most of the visuals. Here and there dark forms of hillocks such as one I was standing on raised up their heads from the ocean of fogs, and through parts of thinned out mists the water and mud, and the reed bushes could be seen. As much as I could see it was the same. There were some faint glows of vast nebulous shapes that were shimmering and wobbling in the deeper fogs. I knew what these were. Kenthugga, the evil spirits of the swamps and marshlands that glow in the dark and make people who follow them vanish. Some of these I could see moving about, like vast water creatures that were looking for prey. But I was not going to follow them and I had an enchanted sabretooth tooth-amulet with me, not to mention the tattoos that ward off evil spirits of wild on both of my buttocks. Without them, I would have been in real danger, but now I was mostly concerned about Lud. He did not have protection of any kind. However coming up to this hillock proved useful, though I did not expect what I found.
Faintly, in the distance I could see something. It was a light, but much more concentrated. It was not a Kenthugga, but a human shape, that was somehow illuminated. I did not know if it was Lud, but I was not going to take chances.
I came down the small earthen heap on the other side and ran towards it. I did not worry about the Kenthuggas, except tapping and checking for the waterholes. I figured that reeds could not grow in such deep waters, so I was jumping from one reed patch to another, and soon reached there. I passed a few Kennthuggas, and I closed my nose as hard as possible as I tried to cross it, trying not to breath in the horrid stench. I could hear a lot of voices in there, and paid no heed to them. Thankfully I must have just passed through its tail, as I was not going to be surviving it if I really was interested in me. I soon crossed it, and then immediately hid behind a thicket of reed and other plants, as I did not want to disappear. The evil light soon went away. I resumed walking again, towards where I thought I had seen the different light, where I thought Lud should be.
It was indeed Lud, who was somewhat glowing from his back, where the scars were. I could see him standing still with a structure before him. It was a very oddly shaped giant stone, the eerie smoothness and sharp edges of which reminded me uncomfortably of the unnatural smoothness of the cave where I had seen the horror.
But the immediate danger was not this. Lud was ignorant of his surroundings. The creatures I had seen before were all here, waiting in the shadows, looking at Lud with anger and ferocity, but for some reason, they were not attacking him.
As I came closer, they became aware of my presence. I could see them in the light of my torch, which was slowly dimming by this time. It would not last too long. I did not need it to find my way back, but I certainly wanted it to last a bit longer, to intimidate these creatures, which tried to stay away from the reach of the light, and I could only catch glimpses of pale limbs and hands, and sometimes their sparkling bald heads which reflected the light.
“Lud, come, let us go back!” I called him, as the creatures stood in my way.
Lud did not respond. It was a problem. I could not reach Lud without confronting the creatures. It seemed like they did not want to confront me as well, but were not ready to let me pass either. Some of them aggressively splashed on the mud and water, and hissed in uncanny voices.
I could hear a splashing sound behind me as well. It was still somewhat away, so I had some time, but I did not like where it was going, and I was grabbing my spear very tightly. I carefully approached Lud, putting my torch before me. I could see a grotesque, chubby face, and large, bulging eyes full of anger. These were some sort of hairless apes, it seemed, a bit shorter than us, but stockier.
I came forward further, and thrusted with my spear loosely, to drive them away.
The creatures made way for me, and I reached Lud. He was out of his senses, as he was blindly and vacantly staring at the giant monolith, but I was not having that. As I tried to grab his arm and go away the creatures again blocked our way.
I threatened them , but they did not seem to budge. They were closing in at times, and as I was trying to intimidate them, they were getting a few steps back, before snarling and closing in further. and I was getting ready to take a few of them with my spear and trying to make a break for it, though I was now feeling the nauseating sensation of impending doom.
I could hear the other splashing sound come closer too. It was almost here. I was about to thrust towards my side and try to get away, when I heard a human voice.
It was our elder shaman. I could not say how relieved I was hearing him.
He did not look like the frail old man he was. His fur clothes and the many adornments he wore as a shaman were all seemingly on fire, as remnants of illuminated mist were stuck to them. He seemed to have walked here right through some Kenthuggas body. Behind him, the shimmering Kenthugga waved and wobbled.
He raised his hands, and I could see that his eyes were glowing in shining blue white light. I remembered that he used to tell stories about taming the lightning in his youth, and we never really believed him. But now, I could see him, no longer the old man with the kind of hunched back and scrawny figure, but standing tall with his hand raised to the skies. He was frowning, as he was muttering powerful words of spells.
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