creature tore large pieces of flesh from the blood
swollen ankle. It gorged with blessed pleasure.
Within minutes, the blood became dark,
tainted with the taste of death, and the creature lost interest. It
stood up just inside the door of the hut and felt no need to move.
There was no living creature close enough to enflame its
desire.
It briefly looked to the right minutes later
when the body on the floor stood up next to him, but disregarded
the other corpse as uninteresting.
It did not even flinch when hours later a
single larva fell from its neck to the floor, and then through a
crack to the ground below.
~ Epilogue 1
~
The shaman sat despondently beside the stream
just outside of camp. He and the warriors had been searching for
Marik for weeks and had called off the search the day before. Life
had returned to normal. All of his dreams recently had been evil
and foreboding, but they offered no answers.
A small boy splashed in the water while his
mother bathed a few feet away. Suddenly the boy screamed in pain
and ran into his mother’s arms. The shaman saw her slap the boy
harshly on the back and reach down in the water to retrieve
something.
She walked over to Tanis and held out her
hand. In it she had a large mature bondai fly.
Behind her, the boy fell into the water and
screamed again in agony.
~ Epilogue 2 ~
The warriors ventured eagerly into their war
camp. They were exhausted from the long journey, but anxious for
battle training the next day. It had been months since they had
last been here, and the bitterness of that loss had been replaced
by the anticipation of the next battle’s victory.
Everything looked just as they had last seen
it. They would spend the next few days repairing the handful of
huts, sharing stories, competing with each other and sharpening
their skills. It was a time every man in the tribe cherished.
Inside the main hut two head’s turned
simultaneously when the first of the men approached. Each moaned
softly in anticipation as the living spirits approached.
###END###
Author Notes
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