Crown of Flame

Belly of the Beast Part 2

"Get up you fool!" a harsh male voice whispered. Ikinya pulled open his heavy eyes. It was dark, and only slivers of light pooled down beneath the canopy of trees. He was in one of the mountain forests. He could not for his life recall how he had gotten there. His body was badly scraped and bruised. He could feel that without having to see it in the light. Ikinya's eyes finally adjusted to the shaded darkness. The man hovering above him was Mbogo, one of his men. Mbogo was a reliable man and a skilled fighter. He had taken more than one arrow and survived. Being a man his size, it was hard not to become the target of every archer in the east. Ikinya could not imagine why this man now looked so frightened.

"What is it Mbogo? Where are we?" Ikinya asked. Mbogo looked down on the man confused.

"Do you not remember? Have you been resting here on the forest floor since the day we first came to these cursed lands?" Ikinya stood, stretching his achy muscles. "It must be so and likely why you are still alive. SHE hunts us like animals for a great feast."

Ikinya then remembered the 'SHE' of whom Mbogo spoke. The woman, Teleza she said her name was, had somehow bested him and all of his men. He remembered the shadows dragging them all away. He remembered the searing heat behind the touch of the shadow as it slithered up his body and dragged him across the plain and into the mountains. He was not certain how he had survived even that.

"How long have we been here?" Ikinya asked.

"By my count, we have been in this forest for one day and two nights, but it is hard to know what is real. The sun never shows in this damned wood, only the fall of shadows gives any reckoning of time. This place is cursed, Ikinya. I have heard the screams of others. I could hear her war cry as she slaughtered them. You have led us to our deaths Ikinya. You should not have ignored the teachings of our people. There had to be a reason the Baharini never took this pass. It was foolish to bring us here!" Mbogo's eyes bulged wide and his hands clenched at his sides as he spoke. It was not a state Ikinya had ever seen his companion in before. The fear was palpable on him. Ikinya knew then that he had made a grave mistake in coming.

"Leave me Mbogo." Ikinya stated, taking in his surroundings.

"Leave you? Do we not stand a better chance if we fight together?" Mbogo's voice is pitchy and strained in the darkness, his eyes darting back and forth through the thick trees and brush surrounding them. Ikinya had right away observed that they were in a clearing, too neat and manicured to be a coincidence. He'd been laying there in its center like a ritual sacrifice. The sticky moss and clumps of dark earth still clung to his skin, unwilling to relinquish their hold on him.

"I have angered this Teleza, Mbogo. It was by my machinations that this great treaty of old has been broken. Surely she will be coming for me to see that justice is met. If you want to survive, I am your least hope. Please Mbogo, leave this place, return to your wife and children and warn our people to never come here again." There was sadness and certainty in his voice that spoke volumes to Mbogo. Ikinya had no thought of surviving this forest and knew he deserved no less. Mbogo understood, grasped Ikinya's hand in a warriors embrace, and scuttled off into the shadows.

"So there is some wisdom in this foolish boy after all." A woman's voice floated through the air and settled on his soul like honey. Ikinya knew that voice straight away, despite having heard so little of it. It was a voice he knew he could never forget in a million lifetimes.

"I am a warrior!" He bellowed out into the darkness. "I will not be taken by some witch without a fight and I will not die screaming like my companions!" His bravado was all he could muster. He knew that the truth was, whatever she was that could summon the very shadow, would not be easy to defeat.

"Ah yes, your companion. I nearly forgot." Just that quickly her voice was gone and the silence was empty. Ikinya knew he was alone. He exhaled in relief of a moment to decide his fate. Should he run and allow himself to be hunted and possibly to hunt this woman, or stand his ground and fight in this clearing? She had not relieved him of his spear or his sword. There was always a chance he could fight and survive. If he managed to strike before she could summon that cursed shadow again, he could easily strike her down, he thought.