Shadow of Makei cotpl-3

by John H. Burkitt

  She fell on her husband again and began to sob again. Gur’mekh slinked away sullenly.

  Inside his head he heard a mocking voice that would not easily be silenced. “Maybe I should bleed her out too. She’s a trouble maker for sure.”

  “Don’t you dare!” Gur’mekh answered. “She has pups to raise. Besides, I still love her!”

  “Oh, that really touches me,” the voice said. “I’m deeply moved. I wouldn’t dream of harming her because YOU still love her.” Maniacal laughter echoed from the evil presence. “You’re weak. You don’t have the guts to tell me what to do.” Gur’mekh began to gasp. His throat was closing up. “Don’t you dare!” the spirit repeated, mockingly. “She has pups to raise. Besides, I still love her!”

  Gur’mekh fell to the ground, almost gagging. “Let me go! What do you want from me?”

  “Submission. And I’ll get it too. Now behave yourself and you can enjoy our time together. Cross me and I’ll torture you to madness.”

  Gur’mekh gasped in a deep breath and let it out. The air felt good venting his lungs, and he lay on the grass for a long time waiting for his heart to stop pounding.

  CHAPTER 23: A CRY FOR HELP

  Tormented by the entity, Gur’mekh went to his okash and tearfully begged her for help. “I’m in trouble, Muti! You have to help me! Please help me!”

  Kambra frowned, then sighed. “What were you caught doing THIS time?”

  “I--I can’t say it.”

  She looked into his eyes inquiringly and concentrated gently but firmly. The answer made her hackles raise and her jaw tremble. “Oh God! Oh dear God!!”

  Gur’mekh fell to the ground and began to sob. “If I could put things back the way they were, I would! I swear! Oh gods I’m so sorry! Help me, Muti! Don’t let it destroy me, Muti! I’m so scared!”

  As soon as Kambra could overcome her initial shock, she nuzzled Gur’mekh and kissed him. “My son, my poor son! I’ll have to tell your okhim.”

  “Must you? He already thinks I’m a failure.”

  “No he doesn’t. You must be brave, and you must be honest. I can’t fight this without his help.”

  “You aren’t going to tell the others are you?”

  “No.” She hung her head in shame. “They would kill you.” She sighed. “Whether or not you keep this promise, I will help you because I love you too much to do my duty. But please promise me you won’t use the curse of Melmokh any more. Please?”

  “I swear,” Gur’mekh said fervently.

  She could see in his eyes that it was so, and she kissed him. “You’ve had a hard life, but you’re still my good little boy. We’ll get you back on the right path. My poor child, how you have suffered!”

  Tears streamed from Gur’mekh’s eyes. “Muti, I love you! I’m so sorry! You deserved a better son! I’d have rather died than hurt you like this!”

  “We’ll survive this thing,” she said. “I can only pray that you’ve learned something from it.”

  She went to meet Gur’bruk privately, afraid that he would lash out in anger at his son. There was no fear of that. Gur’bruk merely sighed, resigned that his son would end up in trouble someday. But he held out the hope that Gur’mekh had hit the bottom of his downward slide and could only climb up from there.

  So they covered up the truth about Demrath and the two of them took Gur’mekh to a place alone where the ceremony would not be observed.

  Gur’bruk and Kambra nuzzled Gur’mekh as he lay on his back. They prayed over him words as ancient as the hope of eternal life:

  “Might of mights, love of loves, before the sun you were the light of the world. Look upon this child to be born and know that his name is Gur’mekh. He is consecrated to you, receiving from us the fires of rebirth; may he carry on the line that after we are gone that the name of Roh’kash may not be forgotten. Protect him from the claws of day and the jealous eyes of night, and gather his spirit when his eyes grow dim. Hear our prayer.”

  Then as Gur’mekh lay on his back, Gur’bruk and Kambra took turns urinating on him, soaking him from the neck down. Then they scratched dust on him, turning him into a mud-caked mess. Kambra said, “Husband, it is time for me to be delivered. Pray for the protection of Roh’kash.”

  From time to time, Kambra howled pitifully in her birth pangs. As she did, the wrath of the Makei began to make itself known. A stiff wind blew from the west, trying to force them away from their goal. The spirit began to torture Gur’mekh, closing up his throat till he had to gasp for every precious bit of air, and dimming his sight until he had to lean against his mother for guidance. Still Gur’mekh, who was considered still unborn, spoke not a word as the ceremony demanded. Finally, Gur’mekh’s throat closed completely, and as he lay being choked to death Kambra gazed deeply into his eyes.

  “I love him,” she thought. Her love became a mighty wave that swept over the Makei like a painful rash. “I love him! You can’t have my son! Give him back to me!”

  Gur’mekh gasped in a deep breath, but he stayed silent and submissive. With trembling legs he tottered forward, straining to see his target just ahead.

  He was escorted to the river where with a silent bow of submission he flung himself in head first. He rolled about and splashed, removing the pungent mud from his fur. The evil clung to the bloom of muddy water that opened around him and traveled downstream. His eyesight returned, and the hard, cold look left his eyes. A peaceful smile spread across his face. Even without words, Gur’bruk and Kambra joined with him in a warm shimmering love that made him feel drunk and giddy. How long it had been since the family was that happy! And when he was completely clean, he stepped from the water reborn. He fell to the ground and shouted, “Holy Mother, blessed is the name Roh’kash, sweet as honey upon the tongue!”

  “Thanks to you, O God, for our child is born alive and healthy,” Gur’bruk said.

  “May he grow in love and beauty,” Kambra said. She remembered saying those words for the first time under happier circumstances. Nuzzling Gur’mekh worriedly, she asked, “How do you feel?”

  “Wonderful. Better than I have a right to feel.” He nuzzled his parents and said, “I’m going to resign from the clan council. I have no right to hold office. Instead, I’m going to be a seer and maybe a healer too. Roh’kash gave me this talent for a reason, and with the time I have left, I’m going to find that reason.”

  “Thank God,” Gur’bruk said.

  Gur’mekh nuzzled them both again. “Hey, I’m hungry! Why don’t I go bring you back a nice gazelle? Maybe even a wildebeest?”

  “You ARE feeling better,” Kambra said. “Go with Roh’kash, honey tree. Success.”

  Meanwhile, Fabana had just finished a good hunt and brought back a small duiker antelope to where Lenti and her pups sat stranded. “Maybe this will help the little fellows.”

  “May I take a few bites too, Fay?”

  “Sure. It’s for you too. It could have been my Jalkort, and I know you’d be there for me.”

  Lenti nuzzled her. “You are a sister to me. You’re the best.”

  Famished, the pups lit into the carcass. Lenti held back to let them get their fill first.

  “Bless their hearts,” Fabana said. “I want to help you raise those pups.”

  Lenti winced.

  “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

  “No, it’s just that Gur’mekh was by earlier. He offered to help me.”

  “That was uncommonly kind of him.”

  “Kind?? He killed my husband. I just can’t prove it yet.”

  “Killed him??” Fabana shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve seen the body. I don’t see how he could have done that.”

  “That’s because you don’t know about the dark lore. You grew up around humans. They don’t know what lies beyond the western sky.”

  “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “Don’t laugh. Gur’mekh cursed my husband. There’s a demon curse that burns the blood. It’s an old protection u
sed by the seers in times of great need.”

  “I see.”

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “Oh I believe you. I’ve seen his eyes. Gur’mekh gives me cold chills.”

  “Keep Jalkort away from him for his sake and yours. I tell you Fay, have a talk with your husband.”

  “Are you safe?”

  Lenti sighed. “I don’t know. He wants me, Fay. He tried to hit on me earlier. It’s not safe to turn him down--everyone knows that. I take the pups to a different place each night to sleep because he’ll try to invade my dreams.”

  “Can he do that?”

  “That and more. Much more. He can persuade the feeble minded, forcing his thoughts on them. He’s dangerous. No one is safe with him around. Not when he’s angry.”

  Fabana sighed. “Jal thinks the moon and stars rise and set on Gur’mekh. Jal is basically good, but he can be led astray. I love him. I’d kill for him. I’d kill Gur’mekh and face the consequences.”

  “You wouldn’t have a chance. There’s only one way: come with me to see the Roh’mach.”

  “What could she do?”

  “She could make Shimbekh look for the truth. Shimbekh is his aunt and she doesn’t want to believe he’s guilty, but she will tell the truth once she learns it. I remember my Muti mentioning something about a prophesy. They try to hush it up now, but Shimbekh used to say the son of Gur’bruk would lead us all to ruin. Amarakh knows. All she needs is to be reminded.” Lenti pawed her gently. “We can do it, girl. Where is Jalkort now?”

  “He’s out hunting with Gur’mekh. Where else?”

  Lenti looked worried. “I’m not gifted, but I’ve just felt a cold wave down my back when you said that. Pray, for your husband! Pray hard!”

  CHAPTER 24: THE SPECTRE OF DEATH

  Gur’mekh had a certain quiet reserve and calm that he’d lacked before. Jalkort noticed the change at once.

  “You seem to be in a very good mood, brother.”

  “Indeed I am, Jal! I feel--well--reborn. God has been very good to me.”

  “Yes, Roh’kash has blessed you with this great talent, and a great future is ahead of you.”

  “Not the future you think. If I want to be truly great, I have to stop raiding the Roh’mach’s pantry. I have to stop thinking about myself so much. I have to help others the way God has helped me. You know Jal, what’s really important in life is this....” He took his paw and patted Jalkort’s shoulder. “I mean a mountain can be big, a river can be strong, but love is something from the Ka. It is the greatest gift of Roh’kash.”

  “What a noble thing to say!” Jalkort was all the more convinced of the greatness of Gur’mekh and looked at him almost worshipfully. “You’re going to be the greatest Roh’mach ever!”

  Gur’mekh smiled. “I don’t want to be Roh’mach. There are other ways to be great. My Muti and Maleh are great. Someday you’ll understand. It certainly took me long enough. I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to make up for....”

  Suddenly Gur’mekh felt dizzy. He staggered and nearly fell. “Oh gods!” He began to gasp for air. “Jal, it’s happening again!”

  “What’s wrong?” Jal asked.

  “I thought I was free of it!” Gur’mekh cried. “Go find my okash! Tell her it’s back--she’ll know what I mean!”

  “Free of what?? What DO you mean?? Oh gods, brother, you look awful! I’ll get Kambra--you just wait right here!”

  Gur’mekh took in a deep breath and straightened up to his full height. His eyes shone with a strange light. “I don’t need her now,” he said defensively. “I’m much better.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t like this.”

  “Don’t you think I know how I feel??”. He scratched the ground. “We have a job to do, and there isn’t much time. Follow me.”

  If only Jalkort had been gifted, he would have seen the fear and helplessness in Gur’mekh’s eyes as he was being pulled against his will toward his destiny on the savanna.

  CHAPTER 25: OUT OF CONTROL

  Avina was staggering across the grassland, lamenting her crushed face and the death of her happiness. It was a foolish accident, one that she never should have had, and since she was on a solo hunt there was no one to help her. She had leaped for a hartebeest, and all was well until she felt almost like someone had grabbed her ankle and pulled. The hartebeest struck her in the cheek, burying her under a mountain of pain.

  She desperately sought out Rafiki, and instead she encountered Gur’mekh....

  Gur'mekh saw with horror what the Makei was doing inside him. He was a spectator, helpless in the grasp of an irresistible force. He seized her throat, tasted lion blood, and felt the ground tremor as her once beautiful face struck the grass.

  She struggled weakly, begging him to stop in God’s name. For one brief moment, he met her eyes and her horror and sadness came pouring into him. “What’s going to happen to my cubs?” she silently despaired.

  “May Roh’kash bless them,” Gur’mekh tried to say--it would not come out. And as a tear trickled down his cheek, he grasped the tender skin of her abdomen and ripped her alive.

  Her shriek pierced him like a thorn. “Why, God?? I thought I was free of this! I thought I was free!”

  “There’s only one way to be free of me,” a voice echoed inside his head. “You don’t have the nerve to do it, you little coward! Now shut up and eat! You must set a good example for your friends.”

  Gur’mekh’s stomach was in knots and his limbs quaked as he was forced to eat the still-warm lioness. The huge bites Melmokh made him take nearly choked him.

  “Gur’mekh? Brother? Do you think we should have done this?”

  It was Jalkort. Gur’mekh looked around, unable to say what was in his heart. But tears were streaming down his cheeks.

  “Oh Gur’mekh!” Jal watched the tears fall silently. “What’s wrong?”

  Gur’mekh looked at him pleadingly for a moment, mute against his will. “Oh Jal!” he thought. “My nearly perfect friend. If only you could hear my thoughts!”

  As he looked back, blood and mother’s milk ran from Avina’s torn abdomen. “Oh gods! Oh gods, show me the way and I’ll be rid of this thing! I’d do anything! ANYTHING!!”

  “Your gods won’t help you now. You told me to kill Demrath of your own free will, and you’re beyond their help. You’re mine to do with as I please!”

  A terrible roar shattered the air, and for an instant Gur’mekh expected Melmokh to materialize before him, revealing his shame to all present. The other hyenas looked at him, frozen in terror, wide-eyed with fear as they backed away from him.

  Abruptly he realized they were not looking at him, but at something beyond him. He turned his head to see the furious charge of a male lion hurtling towards them, his face burning with fury, fangs bared as he uttered another challenge. Without waiting for Gur’mekh’s command, the hyenas broke and ran. Gur’mekh joined them, stumbling away in a haze of horror.

  The Makei fell into mocking laughter as the lion looked up at heaven and raged against the awful crime. "I said I'd pick the next victim! Run, Gur’mekh! Run while you still can! Ha ha ha ha!!"

  CHAPTER 26: ONE FALSE STEP

  Free to run, Gur’mekh beat a hasty retreat toward the clan territory with his companions. Muti would know what to do! Muti would know it was not his fault!

  Perhaps this demon was stubborn and required a harsh regimen of fasting and ordeals. He would gladly do whatever it took to be rid of the spirit, assuming he could live long enough to find the way. The lion was not faster, but he would not stop.

  “Roh’kash, why have you forsaken me! Great Mother, help me!”

  Gur’mekh crossed the creek and headed up the eastern meadow. Then he saw Antelope Kopje on his right and the Clan Acacia on his left--right between the two of them stretched an invisible line where the lion’s territory ended and he was on his home soil. Ah, blessed sanctuary of home!

  But Shaka crossed the border and continued
into the Clan’s turf! He would not turn back! Gur’mekh had only three choices. He could find strength in numbers, and if that failed he could keep running until the lion tired and stopped. If that did not work, he could stage a last desperate battle for his life with his three companions. Good old Jalkort would not run out on him. The other two would probably run in different directions and leave them there to fend for themselves. At least good old Jal really loved him. Maybe--just maybe--they would live to see twilight.

  Gur’mekh topped the rise that surrounded the elephant graveyard. He half ran, half slid down the other side, barreling toward the spot where his parents would no doubt be taking their evening nap.

  Behind him, he heard a yelp. Turning his head, for one awful moment he saw Jalkort turning end over end down the slope, coming to rest in the dust, then trying to right himself. “Jal!! Get up!!”

  Shaka pounced, and in one horrifying arc covered the distance to the unfortunate hyena. Jalkort found himself trapped under the awesome weight of Shaka’s front paws. The lion leaned back or he would have crushed him at once. He had other plans, and merely kept Jalkort gasping in a tight embrace of rage.

  “You killed my wife!” Shaka roared. “You ripped out my heart, and I will rip out yours!” The lion looked at the terrified face and knew there was nothing more he could say to frighten him. “I give you a moment to pray to your god.”

  Fabana watched, beside herself with terror. Jalkort glanced about frantically and saw her in the crowd. He silently mouthed her name, the cried, “Somebody help me!”

  “You are trespassing on our lands!” Amarakh said. “You are holding one of my people!”

  “He’s a murderer! He killed my wife in cold blood, and he was on my land! She had two cubs, Amarakh. Two cubs that won’t have a mother coming home tonight! She was alive when they ripped her! Alive!”

  She looked at Jalkort. She recognized that he was one of Gur’mekh’s followers. “I will investigate it. I know him. He’s a trouble maker anyhow, and you can be sure I will punish him if he’s guilty.”