Necropolis (Book One of Book One)

by Penn Fawn

  Bosi removed the note from around his ankle and read it.

  “What does it say?” Tazama asked.

  “Shetani discovered Kimbilio,” he replied, and all faces grew glum before he could finish speaking.

  “They must fear an attack is to come,” Bosi added.

  “And, who wouldn’t?” Tazama replied.

  “I will be back shortly,” said Bosi, a scribe, who hurriedly went back to the cave and wrote the words, “Our home is yours. Come if you are in fear,” onto a piece of paper, then he returned and affixed it to Jogoo’s leg.

  The bird took to the sky, and the men watched it fly toward the horizon.

  “What message did you send?” Tazama asked.

  “I bid them come this way,” Bosi replied.

  “Can we accommodate that many?” Tazama asked. “I understand they are several thousand now.”

  “They can populate the valleys,” Bosi replied. “We can reestablish a Sanctuary here.”

  “And, then what?” Thoroughmann, Bosi’s brother, asked.

  “What do you mean?” his sibling replied.

  “If they were to come here, when the Shetani realizes we are all in one location, they will, or with the necromancer’s aid, seek to eliminate us in one swoop,” he replied. “Just like they did at Sanctuary.”

  “We don’t know that is what happened there,” Bosi said.

  “We don’t need to know or have detailed accounts of all of the specifics,” Thoroughmann returned. “History has shown we can’t afford to risk being concentrated in one spot.”

  “And, we won’t risk that,” Bosi said.

  “How so, provided they come here?” his brother asked.

  Bosi looked him in the eye.

  “It looks to me like the time is approaching when we will finally unite, organize, and fight,” he said. “Fight to exist here and anywhere we choose to be within reason.

  “I eagerly await the crow’s return and will welcome the arrival of our brethren, provided they do come.”

  Thoroughmann thought about what he said.

  “I believe all the ages we spent here suffering from a sterile and tedious existence which threatened to drive some mad and did so, was not in vain,” Bosi added. “The time has come to put that which we’ve learned, that which helped us pass the time, to use.”

  What they learned was the concept of an afterlife was very real, but in their wildest imagination, none could have conceived it was quite like their newfound experiences.

  The skeptics where they were from consequently continued with the most subtle or overtly nefarious practices unfettered, for there was never going to be any repercussion as far as they knew.

  “Do you really believe it’s providence?” Thoroughmann asked, since Bosi’s remarks conjured images of the toil they endured and brought to mind stories he’d heard from souls confined to damnation long before his arrival, tales in which they spoke about never-ending battles with one of their greatest adversaries, ever-present boredom so imposing and all-encompassing, it challenged their resolve to face it and survive without losing their minds.

  However, it was that same boredom and curiosity that led to the advancement of their technology.

  It led to their discovery of nearby ores. It is what led them to learn how to extract and temper them and fashion them into fine tools and weapons. It was what turned many of those who knew nothing about stonework into some of the finest masons around.

  It, combined with a propensity for mischief, led their peers in the forested regions near the plains to develop a big game hunting practice.

  At least, compared to their victims, or their adversaries, the Shetani, it was a big game.

  Recall these were men robbed of the ability to enjoy pleasures associated with the palate. Men with no need to consume anything for nourishment, yet they suffered from no ill effects.

  Food was the last thing on their minds when they slew big savannah cats and other beasts of the plains. Magnificent and powerful creatures like giraffe and wildebeest were slaughtered for fun or target practice, and in the forest, apes of all varieties, gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, etcetera, were slain for amusement.

  Valuing what one took for granted was a matter Thoroughmann heard his peers speak of. He felt he grew to appreciate what they meant.

  In his world of sand, rock and stone, wood, and that element from which wood is derived—that is to say trees and forests—were perhaps valued only slightly less than the air they breathed.

  After all, wood was what they so heavily relied on to make the handles for the tools, knives, swords, battleaxes, and other weapons they needed for combat.

  Wood is what they relied on to make the poles at whose end they wrapped a bit of cloth to ignite and thereby create torches to help guide them through the darkness of their caves. And, wood is what they relied on to make those enormous catapults they positioned facing the marshland that lay just beyond them.

  It was unlikely any enemy would approach by trying to navigate through the marshes, but in the event they did, they were prepared to hurl projectiles, huge rocks toward them, mindful that a misstep to one’s left or right while attempting to avoid being hit, would be sure to suck one down into the bog.

  Thoroughmann’s fellowmen to the south, in their expansive world of greenery, valued the ores that were so abundant where he lived. They valued that and the knowledge of how to fashion them into tools and weapons.

  This interest in their respective districts’ natural resources is what led them to develop a burgeoning trade route.

  “Whether it is providence or not, I, of course, don’t know,” Bosi replied. “Nor do I know whether to believe if it is. I can only say I look forward to an association with them on a deeper level.”

  “Okay,” Thoroughmann replied.

  “A negative situation may have started this, but I don’t see why the consequence can’t be a more positive and stronger union,” Bosi said.

  “Very well,” Thoroughmann replied.

  Chapter V – Kimbilio

  KEITA FELT SO WEARY that he began entertaining thoughts of falling onto the ground with a resolve to let whatever fate that may come his way befall him.

  He wondered where this village they had spoken about might be. Apparently, it was not within an eternity’s travel.

  They arrived at what to him was yet another spectacularly uniform and indistinguishable part of the forest. Still, there was no suggestion of a village anywhere.

  The leaders began to shorten their stride and slow their pace. They stopped dead in their tracks, and he, Ossouna, then Aswad, followed suit.

  Zaeim made a sharp, piercing sound they thought sounded very birdlike in tone. They looked about in awe and wonder when within a fraction of a second later, similar sounds echoed from the canopy.

  Apparently, or so they believed, these men could communicate with birds.

  The truth is, no bird answered Zaeim’s call.

  The replies they heard came from other men. These were guards, lookouts inconspicuously garbed in camouflage, perched high above them, armed with quivers full of poison arrows.

  “Go,” Zaeim said, and they watched the men head toward a nearby thicket and seemingly disappear into the ground.

  “Follow me,” Noor said, and they did as they were told.

  Keita drew nearer to where he saw the others appear to vanish below ground and was alarmed to notice a door. It was covered with leaves and earth but now moved aside, revealing what he discerned was a hole.

  He followed Noor down into the darkness. His eyes widened. His heart rate increased.

  Ossouna and Aswad followed closely behind. The weary sensation they were so cognizant of just moments before suddenly disappeared.

  They were surprised to find themselves walking on solid rock after getting past a mere couple of feet of earth. It was bedrock over which the great river in the distance flowed. It extended from the tip of the river to where they presently were and beyond.
It stretched for countless miles below them. For their predecessors, ’twas conveniently near the surface in that particular part of the forest.

  Legions of the damned who came before and suffered greatly at the hands of the ghoul hordes were the first to notice the small cave into which the men continued to enter.

  In centuries past, their main base of operation was in the vicinity of this cave. They established lookout posts there and all along the river’s length to make use of the bedrock. Their masons taught many of their compatriots who specialized in other trades to cut and work stone, then set them to extend and expand the underground cavern’s width and length.

  There were a total of three of them at varying distances along the river’s edge. All were given the same treatment as the one Zaeim and his men entered. That is to say, they were worked until the men created a passageway running underneath the river.

  “Incredible,” Aswad remarked after descending a flight of stairs carved out of the surrounding rock.

  “Times ten,” said Ossouna.

  Keita’s eyes met his, and they smiled.

  The distance from the floor to the roof was around twenty feet. Keita felt it must have been at least sixty wide.

  The stonework was impeccably cut and shaped to straight lines and at ninety-degree angles in the main. The masons or artists also went to great pains to furnish the place with decorative patterns and carvings, all etched out of the surrounding bedrock.

  Lighting fixtures were placed at evenly spaced intervals in etched areas along the walls. These were earthen vessels shaped like vases. They had a wide bottom and a narrow opening and were filled with some type of flammable liquid. A piece of cloth that served as a wick was placed into the tiny openings, and the parts which protruded beyond the vessels’ tops carried the flames.

  Keita, Aswad, and Ossouna felt energized. They traversed the length of the passageway without complaint of being overburdened by weariness and were instead intrigued and eager to see what was on the other side.

  “Welcome back,” a fellow who stood at the stairway near the exit said.

  “Thank you, Oluso,” Zaeim replied.

  “I see you found him,” Oluso remarked, looking at Noor.

  Noor looked at him, and a smile appeared on his face.

  “We did,” Zaeim said.

  “Good,” Oluso said and tried in vain to repress a smirk.

  “Welcome back, Mbou,” Oluso said.

  “Thank you, my brother,” Mbou replied.

  “I see we have guests,” Oluso added, looking at Keita, Aswad, and Ossouna.

  “We do,” Zaeim said.

  “Lost ones, given a chance at salvation,” Noor interjected.

  Oluso looked him in the eye then he greeted the guests.

  “Oluso’s our chief marksman here,” Noor said. “You can search the whole village and beyond, and you’ll never find one more accurate with the bow.”

  Oluso laughed, and a smile or grin appeared on many a face.

  “Maybe after their training, one of them will be my better,” Oluso said.

  “Training?” Aswad said. “We’re going to get training?”

  “Everyone who comes here is taught how to fight and defend himself,” Zaeim replied. “Everyone from the most effeminate of men to the most feminine woman must learn how to fight and make use of the technology. Your survival depends on it.”

  The newcomers looked at each other.

  “Good,” Ossouna said. “We are already skilled with the bow and arrow. Any further training will be an enhancement.”

  The men smiled.

  “Let’s be on our way then,” Oluso said.

  The stairway they mounted on the side of the river where the village lay was a bit wider, wide enough to accommodate four men, should that many have desired to walk side by side on it.

  Oluso led the way.

  Zaeim, Mbou, the newcomers, and Noor were next, then the sixty-nine other men followed. As many of them as could be accommodated along the width of the stairway at a time mounted it on their way out.

  Keita held a hand up above his face. “I can see a river over there, but where’s the village?” he asked.

  “About a mile from here,” Noor replied. “We have a bit more traveling to do,” he added.

  “Okay,” Keita replied.

  Oluso made a sharp, piercing sound, not unlike a bird may do. For the second time that day, the newcomers heard similar noises echo from within the forest. They looked up but could see no trace of who or what it was that replied.

  Their attention was soon diverted and directed to four men who appeared to materialize from the woods’ very fabric. Each bore a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a sword.

  They stepped toward Oluso.

  “Today’s business is over,” the latter said. “Conceal and secure it until further notice.”

  He was referring to the door to the entrance of the underground passageway.

  The guard closest to him, one of the four who came out of his place of concealment in the bushes, shook his head in an upward and downward manner.

  “Your relief should soon be here. After they arrive and you return home, report to me directly. I will give you an update about the particulars of the meeting.”

  “Yes, sir,” the guard replied.

  Oluso and the others walked for close to a mile when Keita noticed something he hadn’t seen in the forest before.

  There was a clearing in the distance, an area devoid of the thick grown of trees. He could discern there appeared to be dwellings there.

  Aswad and Ossouna looked ahead with growing interest. The distinct appearance of what appeared to be a settlement could now be seen. They collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Looks like we’ve reached it,” Aswad said. “The village.”

  “I think so,” Ossouna replied.

  “You’re correct,” Noor said.

  A number of its members saw them approaching. A party of three men and four women stopped what they were doing and made their way toward them.

  “Thank heavens you’re all back and safe,” one of the women said, addressing Zaeim.

  Her name was Dalia.

  She directed her gaze at Noor. “The trouble and concern you cause us, young man.”

  “No more,” he said. “I’ve heard there’s enough brewing around here.”

  She looked at Zaeim again.

  “Have someone get these settled in,” he said, “then inform Oba we’re here immediately. What’s no secret is the representatives need to call an emergency meeting.”

  “Right,” Dalia replied.

  “It’s critical because we don’t know how much time we have to prepare ourselves,” Zaeim added.

  “Okay,” Dalia said. “Follow me,” she added, addressing the guests.

  Noor held onto Ossouna’s arm just as the latter was about to depart with her.

  “I know you’ve been through a lot getting here. Try, if you can to not let what you’ve seen and heard so far trouble you too much. Try to relax or rest a bit because there will be very little time for that.”

  “Okay,” Ossouna said.

  “That goes for all of you,” Noor added.

  Keita nodded his head.

  “I’m just happy to have been able to make it this far,” Aswad said.

  “Good,” Noor added. “You’re going to hear a lot more about what’s going on around here in the days to come. Our aim is to get you prepared.”

  “Very well,” Aswad said, and he, Keita, and Ossouna departed with Dalia.

  She took them inside one of the dwellings. It, and the walls of all the other buildings there, was made from mud. Its only furnishings were four straw beds, and the roof was made from a combination of wood or branches from trees and straw.

  “As Noor said,” Dalia began. “Try to relax and get some rest considering what you’ve been through on your way here. I hope it was not too much,” she added.

  “It was plenty,” Keita re
plied, looking at her.

  Her countenance grew somber.

  “I hear you,” she said. “Try to get some rest in spite of it. You’ll need it.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  She turned away from him and headed toward the door.

  “May I ask you something?” Ossouna said.

  She turned and faced him.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  “Can you tell me where we are?” he asked.

  “This is our home,” she replied. “It’s called Kimbilio.”

  “I’m wondering how far that may be from Egangeles, provided you’ve heard or know about it.”

  “I have,” she said, and her countenance grew glum. “A great many of us here came from there.”

  “And again, is it far from here?” Ossouna asked.

  She was slow to respond. “It is,” she replied, and there was something about her facial expression, her body language, and her tone of voice, that got his attention.

  She departed, and he felt shaken.

  “Why did you ask her that?” Keita said. “Did you not believe what Noor told us? You know, about the portal and such.”

  “I wanted confirmation,” he replied.

  Aswad was pensive.

  “And, do you believe you got one?” Keita asked.

  “Tell me what you think,” Ossouna said.

  “She clammed up when you asked,” he replied. “Did you notice?”

  “I did,” Ossouna said.

  “That says something to me,” Keita added.

  “Like what?” Ossouna asked.

  “To me, it says there is something not right about this place, and that makes me very uncomfortable,” he replied.

  “So, you believe what Noor told us?” Ossouna asked.

  “I’m inclined to,” Keita replied. “Right now, I don’t have much if any reason to doubt him. In fact, I never did.”

  Ossouna felt silent.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that beast we saw out there,” Keita added. “I didn’t know any such thing existed.”

  “Maybe because we needed to get out more,” Aswad said. “The deep forest is a wild place, full of mystery and other things we also have never seen.”

  “No doubt,” Keita said.