has to lean heavily upon the stick in order to even remain upright.
Out of the swamp ahead of them, the sound of beating drums begins to be heard. Sure that they’ve found where Jiron has been taken, James hastens along. They soon come to where the trail diverges and he hesitates only a moment as he ponders the best way to go. The one leading left goes more in the direction of where the sound of the drums is coming from and looks well traveled, so he turns that way and follows it.
From up ahead, the beating of the drums become louder the further they progress along the trail. The trees begin to thin and they’re able to make out a village of crude huts sitting upon an island surrounded by stagnant bodies of water. The trail they’re on leads straight to it and he can see several other trails leading away from the island going in different directions.
“Miko, look!” James whispers as he points to a cage sitting on one side of the island. Jiron is lying within the cage, shirt soaked with blood and not looking too good. At first he appears dead, but then he moves and James breathes a sigh of relief.
Looking over to the island, Miko watches as dozens of warriors do a dance with their spears to the beat of the drums. Surrounding them are the women and children of the tribe, all standing and swaying to the rhythm. In the middle of the dancers stands a man dressed in ceremonial attire holding a staff atop which sits the skull of some unknown animal. He looks to James like some sort of witch doctor.
“How are we going to get him out of there?” Miko asks, not liking the odds.
“I don’t know,” replies James. “It doesn’t look as if they’ll be doing anything for a while, though.” Motioning to Miko, they make their way to the edge of the water where several trees grow that will afford them some protection while they observe what’s going on.
Just as they settle into their hiding place, two warriors approach the village from where James and Miko had just come from. They’re carrying two others who have obviously been chewed upon by a rhino-lizard, neither of which look alive. These must be the ones who’d almost discovered them earlier.
When the warriors get to the island, some of the women begin wailing as they see their men folk being carried in. Several of them come and take the fallen warriors away into one of the huts. The witch doctor and the warriors dancing seem not to take any notice of the new arrivals.
The warriors suddenly stop their dance and the witch doctor begins talking to them. Gesticulating wildly and speaking loudly, he begins to work them into a frenzy.
James notices a pile of bones off to the side of the village and points it out to Miko. When Miko sees it, he gasps. For there mixed in with bones of different types of animals are two human skulls.
“Cannibals,” James whispers.
“What?” Miko asks.
Leaning close so Miko can hear him better, he repeats himself, “Cannibals. They eat people.”
“Jiron?” he asks, aghast that that could be his fate.
“Looks like it if we don’t get him out of there,” he tells him.
Shuddering, Miko looks at the cannibals with unmistakable loathing.
While the witch doctor is speaking to the assembled villagers, several of the men begin erecting a large spit. When the spit is fully erected and sufficient wood has been piled beneath it, several warriors go over to where Jiron is being held and open the cage door.
Two go in and grab him, dragging him out of the cage and carrying him over to the spit. “Can’t wait any longer,” James says as he watches Jiron being brought closer. He looks to Miko who nods understanding.
Miko watches as James settles in and begins to work the magic.
The witch doctor stands before the spit, staff held at his side. The warriors carrying Jiron approach and come to a stop before him. With one warrior supporting him on either side, they stand him up in front of the witch doctor. Jiron’s head lolls to one side as if he’s not exactly conscious.
Raising his staff high above his head, the witch doctor begins to sway. He begins chanting as the beat of the drums intensifies. Feet stomping, he continues chanting as he dances his way around the warriors holding Jiron.
He’s gone around them several times when he comes to a sudden stop. The chanting ceases as well as he turns and looks directly over to where James and Miko are hiding. He knows we’re here! Miko suddenly realizes.
The witch doctor shouts something to the warriors near him and points over to where they’re hiding. He’s about to say something else when the villagers as one, gasp aloud. He turns to look behind him and sees what looks like creatures made of swamp mud walking out of the water. Little fishes are wriggling within the mud and occasionally fall out to flop about upon the ground.
Raising his staff, he cries out as a flash of light leaps from the tip of his staff to the nearest mud creature. When the light hits the creature, it looses all cohesion. With a sodden plop, the mud which had formed the creature falls apart and splats with a sickening sound as it forms a pile upon the ground. The light flashes again and again until all the mud creatures have been reduced to a pile of muck.
He turns back toward their hiding place as he points his staff in their direction. A yellowish beam of light flashes in their direction but is deflected by an unseen barrier.
The villagers begin crying out as the women and children get up and run off the island, using paths leading away from where James and Miko are hiding. The warriors grab their spears as they begin racing toward them.
“James!” Miko says urgently, “they’re coming this way.” He waits a moment but James fails to respond to what he’d said.
As the warriors come closer, a stick flies up off the ground and begins twirling above the path, blocking their way. A warrior comes close and tries to strike the stick, only to end up being struck himself. The force of the blow could be heard even from where Miko sits and the warrior reels backward into his companions.
Miko sees James remove one of his slugs from his belt and watches as it flies toward the witch doctor. Inches before it hits him, it’s deflected away.
The warriors holding Jiron take him back to the cage and lock it before joining the others who’re trying to get past the whirling stick. Miko sees Jiron begin to regain consciousness and stands up groggily, holding onto the side of the cage as he surveys what’s going on.
The witch doctor again let’s loose a bolt of energy which is once more deflected before it even gets close.
A violent tremor suddenly courses through the ground and Miko has to grab hold of a tree next to him in order to remain upright. The warriors trying to get past the whirling stick begin to fall as the shaking of the ground throws them off balance. One unlucky fellow stumbles near the water’s edge and trips over an exposed tree root. Crying out, he falls into the water which suddenly roils with movement as hundreds of tiny fish begin biting him. Miko watches in horror as the water turns red and in less than a minute, the water again grows calm and naught but bones can be seen.
The shaking had rocked the island as well, causing the witch doctor to stumble but had somehow managed to remain standing.
James is beginning to pant from the exertion of maintaining the whirling stick that’s blocking the warriors’ way and in dealing with the witch doctor. The familiar headache caused by too much magic usage begins to make itself known, his vision is starting to blur as well. He’s not going to be able to continue much longer, he needs to finish this quickly before he passes out.
Miko watches as the island stops its shaking and the witch doctor steps closer to the edge of the island. Suddenly, the pool of stagnant water near him erupts, throwing muck and water into the air. A good portion of the eruption arcs through the air toward the island where the witch doctor is standing.
Trying to get out of the path of the swamp water, he back pedals quickly, but not quickly enough. The water falls upon him and suddenly he starts to scream as dozens of small fish attach themselves to his exposed flesh, their tiny sharp teeth digging in hungrily. He begins trying to tear them off when a hole suddenly opens up in his chest. A spray of gore explodes out his back as one of James’ slugs exits his body.
The witch doctor falls to the ground in a pool of his own blood, the little fishes continue biting and wriggling into his body. The warriors, who’d been trying to get to James, stand in stunned silence upon seeing their witch doctor fall. They begin crying out in fear as they turn tail and run, following the paths the women and children had taken earlier. In short order, the island is clear of everyone except Jiron who’s still in the cage and now more
